DELLUU UATE EUTLET 


} 


wim 5 
wat 
new & 
wom § 
re 
ass 4 
ad 
ont & 
ad 
mee 
—— * 
xa 
— © 
ee 
re 
nm 3 
% we P 
on 
er 
—_ 
emi = 
oe 
, oat 9 
a 
. 
a 
om & 
5 as 
«auth 
ae & 
wes fp 
Brame. 
5 
—_ 
- =. 
‘eee 
aw 
ahs 


I 
t 


CLOLEUDT LENT AA 


{ 


AUTUVIENVERICOEO Td ECT 


SATIN 


TO 


Sk 


WSHTAUAY UOT VAUDEGALUBA YUM LEER UT HALTS SATE ATINZ 


oe oe fe] ea * 


- 


ee ee 


see ee, 
Deis 


*# ‘arene ae: 
sey ae 


a 


A> 
7 


Pali 


=o Aye. 


\7 
0a 0-aRD 
% 7 


2, 
Q 


*, 


of ous vemmoermefe 


Ca a A EEN ER EN WEEE NWN WHEW UEFA DRESS SEONG & : 


96 


2, 
oe 


c 


POETS OEE YS 


eee nnn 
EE  eV_7O7O7Oee 


Music Masters Old and New 


A Series of Educational Biographies of 
the Greatest Musicians 


FROM 


Bach and Handel to the Present Time 


Prepared for individual reading and self-study as well as 


for use in clubs and history classes 


BY 


JAMES FRANCIS COOKE: 


ao 


ee ee bak Es oie re Or 
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 


Copyright 1918, by THEO. PRESSER CO. 
British Copyright Secured 


ay 


fe 


2, 
| 
2, 

So 


SO eal 


UIA 


AIA 


HINA AL 


HIM AOAT 


ll 


AAA 


HA 


| 
Ht 


IA 


INA 


PA 


fe 1 ore OREN E% 


ST SAAT AT ann Tan TT (Ally 


>, , 
0,0) O-GED()-S Od) 


Tue interest in music study in America has 
been fostered by three things to which all music 
lovers of present and coming generations must 
owe a very great debt. 


1. Pioneer music workers with original 
ideas, immense initiative and unending in- | 
dustry. This includes such men as Lowell 
Mason and his son William Mason, G. F. 
Root, William Sherwood, B. J. Lang, 
W. S. B. Mathews and many others. 

2. A wealth of excellent musical books 
(not written beyond the comprehension of 
the average music lover) and a number of 
musical periodicals of exceptionally in- 
structive importance. 

3. Musical Clubs, formed of individual 
groups or associated with the remarkably 
active and productive National Federation 
of Musical Clubs. 


These three factors have developed demands 
for musical information which seem more or 
less peculiar to America. It is therefore in 
recognition of an obvious need that the author 
has prepared this book for use by individuals, 
music schools and music clubs. Encouraged by 
the very large number of letters from students 
and teachers of the Standard History of Music 
who have wanted a work planned upon the lines 
of the present book, an effort has been made to 
make the work as interesting and “human” as a 
collection of life stories should properly be. 

In innumerable instances throughout the work 
original sources of information have been con- 
sulted and passages translated from continental 
languages especially for these pages. There is 
much, therefore, that has not been hitherto pub- 
lished in any book in English. 

The composers are arranged in alphabetical 
order for the convenience of the reader. Prof. 
Ritter’s introductory chapters, however, give a 


PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE 
GAT tates a cieknie sis, Sees Gs Re cee Fa 32 arly aOlisis ticle list mine stein 3 Tse SCHeliz Ky Parle tantelsect. wlsvsleere sis.0 seo Saint-Saéns-....5.. «2.15 sae 32, 49 
AMDTOSIUS, feta ss. fics 2 «tee eee 4 EL Bary Seen Ged wom cee Ee ho eae 77 |B aveld oN |(Sebakyeorg mae eck een OR 40 Sauer: . «0 is so dese «ale ee 32 
PNTIGOTE Ch ahs apceci nis ogi nies 5 eee pote 32 lstechazya le ninemsn) eee: ee maar 29 Wigcima rere ciis tobioe cas !s) as.oe ate 6, 31 SCANDINAVIAN COMPOSERS.. 67 
CATOZ 20 par: stelle elles Se oc ae 4 BNGBISH GOMPEOSBERS teria. 77 IMliay hile Pag Weenies Pa retorts re ashes sous eds cs eee 73 Scharwenka 2.) sn) nee eeaaae 32, 80 
BASH A Slots wiclanale, «texan, cae Ree TRO 57 (ESTE ON ee erie Ech en ole 4 A) MntaBnne | 72 IMac DO wielliveacturiiccsssms ic cise aiecste 32 Schmitt; Florent )). 5..ape eee 72 
Pepin AME ls wr ctelerhel tions tered Se | OZ Baycnamny a3 iavntee SAR Tee ok eee 32 Mack enziemmntiece ioscan wis nie eral eur 78 |, Schoenberg 2. 0... e-eeceeanae 74 
BAS voce o's oer cn oes os scifi oie ene 32 Hrtedhetanttant ate aceite ee We MarSChileta eat eie te cdces sabis oare 6 Schubert ....< ..5.< 0 5g ene ae | 
[SVEN kage eso chore aS. ache 81 FRENCH COMPOSERS .......... 71 Machen: Memeeerrrsiniicikc sek. cr arate 69 Schumann’>... 2.0102 en eee 6,53 
[SET W0\e SO ARompmc pg. odcusoorcsis 2s00 77 Franck a.).eis te eet cee ee 72 NMaSOnee er eee eG ac onieol eee 35 Scott f. 23.0... 05 ae re 77 
Beaeny irs. EEL WAe ert eet 75 Wranzascrct s-e eeee Gere me tater ns 80 Mia SSERetpe t ey ints: ake sas wychereee 71 Schuett \...,..3../..0 +1) een rrr 79 
Pemoovet: .... sacsihe, goss 5, 9 Gaide-tin.8. eee. Bee en eee: 67 Mendelesolin a seein: tb roe al nc eee 6, 37 Scriabine ..........++ssseecseeges-s 82 
BEThi0z 2... reed eer eeepc e sents 11 Gramiverae ye a nce Mie Malte owe ee 78 INF ESSE POIs Melcaebeastescie. of aflstes “aly wu eeale fe Scribe oc .c 50 oa a oo nels eee 40 
Bendel ...... 00.6 eteere eee cree eens 32 Glaziinov 6 ance fee ae ea 82 Meyerbeerin. sm ctte mech iiss. nee Bk 39 severac, dé... \5: oss ieee = 72 
2 cc 32. HUGH 27s soe Ada ee ee 81. | Modjeska \..2 0-1. 6058+. +2 sen enes 43 | Sherwood ....... +s. -Sssiines sas 28 
[BSE a, SRE oA donc mic do acT Be 71 Cliente AS, See Bt ok Ue 5, 490 dl Mhoszltowskil i.e. amees- . Sate & 32.79 |; Sgambati in /.ocs. «one oe 
BoGkelmann ». 205... 20+- sence. 32 Godard). ch 233.2 eee 71 INOUSSOneS syapert Potrear ers ae hie ee 81 Sibelius  s...i: 2c «cc re eee ree 8 
Boito Pie dis oni i ae ks De ete 62 Golditiagk:< 2 tan ee ee 79 Mottlie a hee clatter ene Ge diattic oottee. 32 Siloti sigia 810 be10.0 oles OS, 32 
Bo rdes Ser = ft Rene crah aa 72 Gattschatie Re. ve ae ie ee 21 IN Boy Ae 9h cian CAS GRS oS ina cor kOe RROD 5) Al Sinding? \.. oats...) » spelen 68 
Borodin 1.0.0... eeeeeeeeee eens 32, 81 GOunGd Mi sehen stadt eter her nares 23 INKeirr cel Meine “Iniciar oh Coipia.cete oat 32 SJOQTEN oe. sees eee e seen eee eeeeeees 68 
Braianseis<'s. Ween. ee a ere oe Oni 3 Gregor’ Popeseuah oe eae ik 3 Obersleb 32 Smetana... . .« ast s1sa eee 32, 74 
Brassin ...... 0.0.0 sseeevseeeeeens 32 | Gregorian Chants ...........-...-. code peeeiccmsaiaias ny Teagne” ot aa 5 | Smyth, Dr. Ethel Marys saguumees 76 
Brum€au 2.6.5.2 s seen e eo ince eee anes LEN Garter 1) hasta Peel tote Gate KE 25 Sete Teci Ie A eee 3 | Spohr... +.-..0.+. +s) gaa 6 
Bilosamich, Vee aes eee 32 Piast, Me are Po ee ela 5 27 Paderewski ....--.0-+sseeeere eee e ee ms Staniérd .. cc... ae. 77 
Bene .g5. suaenn ace eee 25 Havas: los seas ae ee ae 5 29 Palestrina .....++++eeeeeeerere reese 72 Sternberg, von ....... aan 32 
Btilow, VOMg esas aca ot eee oe Haydn, Michaelais ine coe Lee 6 Parry Gia -isis < + »'s0'b Meme a eiee min» oe 70 Strauss, Johann .... -.ageeeeeee es o- 55 
G2 Vein og SUB eee h J Sob Odea chive OEM 76 Mepmann, Carles .sies cea. ee 32 PELOSI coos sees sereereee sees eeseaees 34 Strauss, Ro. sack us» oer ce 7 
Casty bon mel Oh; & ote sarcasm eee ate 72 LES ae ane eh 4 Petecbotor Ni Hives soeceetee el eee a Stravingky ........<« ee. 2 
Ghabrier Tey wae... ie sees dee ates oe 72 Hamperdinck ss uae... es 74 Piern€ . 0... eee eee eee eee ees a Stucken, van der . <..5ne ene. 32 
Chawiigade. .. ss Neue sec ete eee 75 indivi) ae We te eee 72 Poueigh «0. +++ esse sees etre eee eens 72 Swendsetie i... -m S.5!-.s eee ame ees 67 
Charpentier ,. chet. nt an timiuets 72 Tc aeaern ar nada Pratt, S. Gs sess ysryeeeerver estes 32 OU) Parley fies. - « ons) A or 82 
Ghakccon & deme RM see tae 72 IDDAL TAN ‘GOMPOSERS cae weer 69 Program Music ...... Bh eR Te 6 Talisig css... ol, 32 
Chapiale, .: Meco s. cease ee 15, }2gadassoha x, 24, eae! . pygep yn orange 32 | Puccini «6... eee eee ec eee eee eee ees AY Wd ei ataiveky. cae ee ee ae 
Ghevillard:)cgetkivtce eee ee 72 Jiaelhs ae ae ccs, ne Cee eee 32 Rachmaninov «aati ears seme ue 82 ibaa: dts. ee 53 
Coleridge-Taylor A eT Re opi 7S OSCE Y- 7 ois le seals Make. ov aeetuetee etait 32 Ratt ae Avatanas .alaicletese fe eee uatnceyiets 32, 79 Verdi 61 
COTS, ee RR Oe une ae TCS a WPELtSGrh OP e rte he < ohay teepete eterna te weber anags 80 Ravelternas. >) Rent Soba sree Vovlée cas eee ee 30 
Gomielins aie est ct OO, ache 32 Lachmundas. 6s ates ce pra ree 32 RE GE Maer Malesia ons Ooi od mae pie alee 74 Was ks Haas fore eS ee | 63 
(Coten! 1h sees ec te 78 Radinmrailiey: Beker eaiten rend cee 72 Richter iak so oe oe cue. locas task e Seren 55 Waltz CRN ORR RS: OPTIONS CD CI 35 
GE i ule ert ee ohn, atin ees 81 Lalo ee eee ae Pee 36 72 Ritisky-Worsakoyy .msie. «histone 82 Web CE AIRES. 9. 0 RCo NE ECE 6 68 
Danitosch? losses hace aan tees 32 Lambert aine.cis.os soe cet: «ceca 32 Ritter ssecescceeeece ee ere ees caecees 32 Weber, A iieeae gee one eS ) 42 
Datcumycs ieee: Seema 6 fon Ae 81 Lamond wes. eh sccets At eee ra) 82 Rivé-King .......00+-esseseeseenees 32 Wei e Bee ic NCTE SSS C3 A 020° 39 
Debwbsy se Ace oor noe <6 ees ee 17 Latimer Sravdac s hsnct sean alent: 55 TROMANTIGIStS elsmesieees = intent ene ere 6 Wi. ck Cl ce ee Cen 53 
Delives ier bs do ccs sn" Po een oa’ We Teassen yn he .c ase ee ee he 32 Rosenthalv.e..peunss es eee datas Sz Wolf.” i CYB ORS 1 RA Ce ea ae 20 
Deyelopment of Music... ....-.09.4..5 4 Rehman . a... 2 cen tee ntact ug aa Dohe ea Rts kay the > aoe rommera ter a Wolf-Fersari Rasp ag' < SORE Ro 8 Ge et 70 
WW) ito} gad eae OT AP GH et 73 Beker ey nae ceed COP CLE Wc BITS COTES MGS SRR OR ees PRN ROL o at Cra mf oo CE eS ats Goel TS Gls 8 ES CS Oa cae 
Dikas, Watts mea: 2 decd Poko Oe 72 Eenz, ‘vir fee tae nase ete tet ck 32 Rubinstein £ o..ccheeheneah oer 47 WOMEN COMPOSERS .......... 43 
pahery see eect cr mere ae 72 age LEONCAVAllO un. sveeteate aie cee ocr oes 69 | RUSSIAN COMPOSERS . » BL | Zichy 22... cece eee ee ces essen seees 3 


FOREWORD 


remarkable chronological view of music history. 
Indeed, it is probably the best short “thumbnail” 
history of music ever presented. After the 
completion of the Standard History of Music the 
story of music should be reviewed through Prof. 
Ritter’s historical introduction to this work. 
Then the chapters of this book should be taken 
up one by one. If studied as hereafter indicated 
the student will have a knowledge of the story of 
the art of music which would have been abso- 
lutely unobtainable even ten years ago. Music 
Masters Old and New is independent of the 
Standard History of Music, and may be read by 
itself. It is a work slightly in advance of the 
Standard History. 

Famous American composers who have passed 
on have been treated in this work, but a book 
dealing with the whole vast musical situation in 
America would. demand an entirely new and 
much larger volume. 

The author strongly recommends in connec- 
tion with the study of this work in musical 
clubs: 

1. The study of the works of the com- 
posers mentioned through the analysis of 
their most important works. The most 
advanced musician of the club should be 
encouraged to supervise this important 
matter and the extent of the work would 
depend entirely upon the amount of time at 
the disposal of the club. 

2. The performance of works of the 
composer by members of the club. This 
will give an intimate personal interest to the 
work of the club that nothing else can 
supply. The life of any musical club de- 
pends upon the opportunities offered to the 
members for personal activity and progress 
in the musical life. If the club does not 
provide these it has no real reason for ex- 
istence. Music Masters Old and New 


INDEX 


ing machines. 


a. 


affords the club leaders a means of plan- 
ning programs for months ahead. Indeed, 
with bi-monthly meetings it would take 
even a very active club at least two years 
to do this work properly. The club leader 
should be provided with the catalogs of the 
best music publishers and work construc- 
tively with the club members in assigning 
works to be rendered at club meetings. 
Properly done, this will mean a whole 
revival of musical interest in the club. 


3. The author can not lay sufficient stress 
upon the great value of the talking machine 
for use in connection with these lessons. 
There are countless musical masterpieces 
which can not be represented to the club 
group in any other way, unless there be a 
great orchestra, choral society or opera com- 
pany at hand. It was the author’s first 
thought to prepare a special list of records 
to accompany this book, but since the work 
is biographical and. since the best record 
catalogs have the works of the masters 
listed very accessibly, the reader or the club 
leader is referred to such a list. 

The use of the talking machine with this 
work will give a historical insight to the 
student that even the best college course in 
musical history could not give ie a few 
years ago. 


Above everything the writer has endeavored 
to throw up in bold relief the lives of the great 
masters as men, not as gods or as music-mak- 
There are few more fascinating 
studies in the world than the romantic lives of 
the immortal music makers. 
of fancy and poesy, often gloriously impractical, 
almost always rhapsodic and _ brilliant, 
page has something of peculiar interest. 


—JAMES FRANCIS COOKE, 


Living in a world 


every 


\ 


‘7 


haa 


ri S218 
es. Yo 


6 “Ywre CB tG- te 


INTRODUCTION 


~The Ten Most Important Epochs in Musical History 


By PROFESSOR HERMANN RITTER 


(The author of Master Study in Music is under a deep debt of gratitude to the late Prof. Hermann Ritter, formerly, Professor of 
-’ Musical History at the Royal Conservatory of Wurzburg, and Docent of the University of Wurzburg, for advice and instruction upon musical 


historical subjects. Prof. Ritter was long recognized as one of the reatest European authorities upon musical history. 
supporters and admirers were Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. 
playing upon his own invention, the viola alta, 
He was a kindly, scholarly gentleman of high character and brilliant attainments. 


Among his strongest 


He was a pupil of Joachim and toured much with Anton Rubinstein, 
Much of Prof. Ritter’s life was spent in England, where he had many admirers. 
The following serves as an excellent digest of the 


main factors in musical history, and may be referred to in connection with the detailed biographical studies of which the book 1s composed.) 


Just as in nature forms can be changed, just as in 
human life habits and customs must vary; so Art, 
the spiritual image of life, is ever subject to con- 
stant change. And the function of history is to 
show us in what manner developments have per- 
fected themselves, how they have reached their 
culmination, only to make way in turn for some new 
development. The history of music also teaches us 
the changes in the feelings and moods of men, as 
well as in the forms in which they have been ex- 
pressed. When we consider the development of 
music among the nations who have deeply con- 
cerned themselves with it, we observe that the art 
has been inseparably connected with their whole 
intellectual outlook. Any work of art must always 
be judged according to the intellectual and social 
life of its period, as well as by the peculiarities of 
the people or individual who created it. Life and 
art are intimately related. Therefore the forms of 
expression vary according to the moving impulses 
and ideals of the period in which they are given 
utterance. 

In this way, therefore, we find different principles 
ruling in the various phases of the development of 
music. Thus, for instance, the flowering of the 
highest ideal of church music is represented by the 
two great masters, Bach and Palestrina, in whose 
music the sublime is combined with the true. The 
ideal of the greatest truth and the highest beauty 
is found in the epoch of Haydn and Mozart. The 
ideal of characteristic expression combined with the 
highest truth is to be found in Beethoven’s last 
period, in Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner. Wherever 

~) among the contemporaries of these great masters we 
™ Gnd truth facking, there we find the baroque, the insin- 
cere style arising. 

We know that music became the language of the 
deepest emotions of life at a time when Christianity 
was the great temporal power of the world; and in 
the Christian church from the fourteenth to the six- 
teenth centuries developed each of the chief ele- 
@-ments of music, as well as melodic and harmonic 
— choral singing. Pope Gregory (about 600 A. Dy plaia 
the foundations of a Diatonic System of Melody in 
~ his “Antiphonarium.” The fundamental principles of 
et aony were systematized in the tenth century by 
JHucbald. Rhythm (mensural notes) came into its 
~own through Franko of Cologne in the thirteenth cen- 
_tury; and from the twelfth to the fourteenth cen- 

uries, among the learned musicians of France, the 
first beginnings of counterpoint were initiated—the 
counterpoint which from the fifteenth to the six- 
teenth centuries was to be further developed by the 
Netherlanders until finally, on Italian soil, in the music 


MoOlurg. / 


of the church, it blossomed to its finest flower in the — 


music of Palestrina. 

We must regard the diatonic style, as represented 
by the Gregorian chants and the works of Palestrina, 
as the principal characteristic of the music of the 
first fifteen centuries of the Christian era. On the 
other hand, the characteristics of the music of the 


middle ages (and of modern music also) are: 
1. The use of the chromatic scale and enharmonic 
changes in addition to diatonic harmonies, and 2. 
Free counterpoint, as well as the highly differen- 
tiated use of the instruments of the orchestra, the 
technical possibilities of which had greatly expanded 
—as they continued to do even during the nineteenth 
century. The psychology of the modern orchestra 
is already totally different from that of a hundred 
years ago. I consider that the technic of listening 


PALESTRINA. 


is also quite different from what was formerly re- 


quired, just as national and individual consciousness 
has altered and the expression of it was changed. 
Whoever has traced carefully the development of 
music in connection with the various epochs of gen- 
eral history will have observed the following general 
law: Each separate period of art undergoes gradual 
changes. We see its exponents ripen and rise gradu- 
ally’ to a certain height, remain at this height for a 
time, and then gradually decline. The decline occurs 
when there is no longer necessity for renewed pro- 
duction, and when the highest proficiency in skill has 
been ireached; that is, when skillful use of form, as 
welf’as use of the external technical means, can be 
learned mechanically. and used:.in imitation merely. 
Form and technical means are not interesting in them- 


selves. Only the content (the reality, the idea they 
express) -is interesting. 

When original genius is lacking, original content is 
usually lacking also. Moreover, it is a law in the devel- 
opment of music that all significant phenomena must 
struggle for recognition. Such phenomena arise from a 
deep inner necessity for expression; when this necessity 
has passed, then the phenomena disappear also, and 
new phenomena, corresponding to the changed spirit of 
the times, take the place of the earlier ones. This 
seldom happens, as I have said, without a struggle. 
Inseparably connected with the entire intellectual out- 
look of a people, and with the life and attitude of the 
individual, is the process of development of its musical 
life. In fact, we may consider it with reference to its 
environment. 

At first we perceive music in the heart of the church, 
for from the beginning of the Christian era till the 
sixteenth century music as an art was found exclu- 
sively in the churches'and convents. Then it appeared 
in worldly life, leaping directly from the churches to 
the theater. From the theater, in which the opera, as 
well as virtuosity in singing and in performance upon 
single instruments developed, it withdrew to the draw- 
ing-room (camera), resulting in the origin of chamber 
music. From the salon to the concert hall was the 
next step. Influenced by the modern national con- 
sciousness, it proceeded to the greater public concert 
halls and public gardens. In, the various classes of 
human society, therefore, music was at first the privilege 
of the heads and scholars of the Church (church music), 
then of the princes and nobles(opera and chamber 
music), until it finally becamie the common property of 
all the people (part songs, songs for single voice, in- 
strumental music, opera; oratorio). 

Moreover, the various means of expression employed 
by the tone-poets in the course of music’s development 
are typical of the different epochs of style. In the 
period after the birth of Christ from Ambrosius and 
Gregory to Palestrina, church music was purely vocal 
in character. Song ruled and determined the style of 
all the music of this:time. In the period marked by 
the works of Bach and Handel, the style created by 
the organ is recognizable throughout. . The style of 
Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and the younger Beethoven is 
determined by the string instruments. The string 
quartet is the basis of the orchestra. The instrumental 
melody predominates even in the song of this period, 
especially in Italian opera, Piano and orchestra are 
still undeveloped. The piano is the instrument of the 
modern composers (Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, 
Brahms, Liszt). The combination of all the means of 
expression of orchestra and voices is characteristic of 
Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner, also of Richard Strauss. 
In song the declamatory style predominates (based on 
the syllabic proportions of the words). The orchestra 
is developed to its utmost limits, according to the 
peculiar character of each instrument. 

Italy is to be considered the home of music, because 
in Italy the germs of all musical forms developed. 
Later she yielded the supremacy to Germany, who in 
turn shared the fruits of her labors with other lands, 


as, for example, the Slav, Magyar and Scandinavian, 
as well as England and America. In. the music of 
Handel and Mozart we must recognize both Italian 
and German influence; in Meyerbeer, German, Italian 
and French. It is interesting to observe how the three 
elements of music, melody, rhythm and harmony ap- 
pear as the influences of the music of Italy, France 
and Germany. In the music of Italy, melodic style 
predominates; in that of France, rhythmic style is 
strongest, and in that of Germany, harmonic, poly- 
phonic and contrapuntal. No country except Italy 
has passed through so comprehensive a development of 
music as has Germany. The following plan will illus- 
trate these facts: 

1. GERMAN RELiIGiIous MUSIC-DRAMA, 

The mystery plays of the Middle Ages. 
The Passion Music of Bach. 
Parsifal of Wagner. 

2. GERMAN INSTRUMENTAL MuSIC. 

J. Sebastian Bach, Ph. E. Bach, J. Haydn, Mozart, 
Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Ber- 
lioz, Liszt, Wagner, R. Strauss, Bruckner, Mahler, 
(Suite, Sonata, Symphony, Symphonic Poem, 
Symphonic Ode.) 

3. ORATORIOS. 

Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, M. Bruch. 

4. Sone. 

Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, 
Schumann, Franz Liszt, Wagner, Cornelius, Ru- 
binstein (whose songs follow a pure’ German 
style), Brahms, Strauss, Wolf. 

5. GERMAN OPERA AND GERMAN NAatTIoNAL MusIc- 

DRAMA, 
Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, Marschner, 
Wagner, R. Strauss, Schillings, Pfitzner, Humper- 
dinck. 

Two principles of musical style have worked out 
in the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- 
_turies; one based on treatment according to themes 
and conventional forms, the other on psychological 
treatment. 

The music of the first style is expressed in conven- 
tional form and has no definite emotion (mood) as 
its content. The music of the second is derived from 
purely psychological principles; that is, this music 
is merely the expression of a mood, and the painting 
of a situation; its form is deduced from the princi- 
ples of a poetical idea, and finds its justification and 
explanation by means of a program. All forms of 
music, excepting the oratorio, which has never passed 
beyond certain limits of convenience and tradition— 
symphonic style, opera, piano forms and song-forms, 
have suffered an extension, a broadening of form, 
because of this new principle. It sought at the end 
of the nineteenth century new outlets in realism and 
symbolism, which involved a decided development of 
technic in the orchestra, as our youngest poet, Rich- 
ard Strauss, has shown. He introduced new surprises 
in his works, compelling the instruments of the orches- 
tra to obtain remarkable effects. He marks, with- his 
orchestra, the culmination (up to the present time) 
of the wave of highly developed orchestra-technic. 

The first wave, as we know, was the transition from 
the old classic writers to the romantic school. Weber, 
closely followed by Mendelssohn, with reference to 
orchestra-technic, is an example. A special distinctive 
mark of modern music is the individual, the personal, 
the subjective quality, in contrast -to the objective. A 
characteristic difference between the art-principle of 
the older classicists and that which developed in the 
romanticists, as well as 
with Berlioz, Liszt and 
Wagener, is the follow- . 
ing: In considering the 
constructon of a work 
of art the classicists 
took care to produce a 
certain continuous flow 
of development in the 
thematic material ac- 
cording to the require- 


ments of conventional ITALIAN 


“A 


artistic conception is more or less subjective, freeing the 
art of sounds from compulsory form. The ideals, the 
inner being of a time or an individual, finds expression 
in any art, especially in music, the sphere of feeling. 
History suffices to show us how man is subject to con- 
tinual change, and we must suppose that the law of 
external change persists in music also. This the de- 
velopment of music shows us. 

If, now, we glance at the development of music from 
the beginning of the Christian era, that is the process 
of growth of German, French and Italian music, we 
deduce the diagram given at the bottom of this page. 

Let us now, from the history of the general course 
of music development, select the ten most significant 
events or happenings which have made their influence 
felt even up to the present time. 


1. THE EARLIEST STAGE OF CHURCH MUSIC. 


The first great event of the growth of music in the 
early years of Christianity was the work of Ambrosius 
(Bishop of Mailand, 333-397) and Gregory I (540- 
604). With the name Ambrosius we associate a series 
of Hymns, which are still sung to-day in the Catholic 
Church. He succeeded in preserving esthetically the 
culture of the Catholic Church, in combining the anti- 
phonal singing customary in the Eastern Churches, 
with the elements of old. Greek music, since his series 
of scales can be traced back to the old Greek modes. 
Of his system of notation we know nothing. 

Gregory I extended widely the cultivation of Church 
music (which consisted exclusively of song), giving an 
impetus to unity of development which has persisted 
up to the preseit time. His chief work was the Anti- 
phonarium, the book which contained the antiphonal 
chants prescribed for use in the Church. The “Can- 
tus Gregorianus,” also called “Cantus Firmus,” or fixed 
song, so called because it was to remain as guide and 
foundation in all church music, and is still in our own 
time the basis of the liturgy of the Catholic Church. 
The Gregorian Song was founded on eight series of 
tones (or scales), the so-called “Church Modes.” It 
was always sung in unison. For notation, he used 
the “neumes,” which did not fix the intervals definitely, 
but indicated the rising and falling of the melody. 
The “neumes” were merely an aid to memory (re- 
memorationis subsidium). 


2. THE EPOCH OF HUCBALD AND d’AREZZO. 


The second great mark in the development of music 
was the work of Hucbald and Guido d’Arezzo. With 
Hucbald (born 840, in Belgium, died 932, in the Con- 
vent of St. Armand), we associate the first system of 
principles for polyphonic singing; with d’Arezzo (born 
about 1000, died 1037, as a Benedictine monk), the 
discovery of a system of notation which for the first 
time showed exactly the pitch of the notes. Hucbald 
laid down his rules for polyphonic song in his “Or- 
ganum,;” Arezzo showed his system in a work called 
Micrologus de disciplina artis musical. 


THE MASTERS OF NETHERLAND. 
3. Epoch of the Netherlanders. 


While the principles of melody and harmony were 
developing in the head of the Christian Church for 
two thousand years after Christ, the twelfth, thirteenth 
and fourteenth centuries bring new principles for the 
construction of music with reference to melody, har- 
many, rhythm-and counterpoint. The so-called Mensur- 
alists, Marchettus von Padua, Franco of Cologne and 
Jean de Muris, not only advanced in harmony, but 


DIAGRAM INDICATING THE MAIN OUTLINES OF MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY, FRANCE AND 
GERMANY FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT. 


AMBROSIUS———GREGORY 
HUCBALD———GUIDO DAREZZO 
THE NETHER LANDERS 


PaLestrinaA (Rome) G. Gasrte.t (Venice) 
(Highest Development of Netherland Contrapuntists) 


Frencu 


forms, their contem- 
poraries, more or less, 
following with a the- 


ALLEGRI CarissiM1 


(Sacred Music) 


A 


MonTeverveE (Florence) 
(Chamber Music) 


Lu.tiy (Ope ae 


(Opera) Rameau 


discovered a notation (mensural notes) by which it 
was possible to indicate in writing a particular dura- 
tion of the note. Through the work of these men 
came about the general development of our modern 
idea of consonance and dissonance. During the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries, therefore, the com- 
posers of the Netherlands carried on the work of the 
preceding years, and influenced the development of 
music as far as our own day, because they furnished 
the materials, the stones for building up the art. The 
Netherlanders must be regarded as having established 
artistic counterpoint. From Northern France, Eng- 
land, Holland, Belgium and Germany, were the com- 
posers who shared in this important phase which 
lasted from the twelfth to the middle of the fifteenth 
centuries. Many forces work together. Many the- 
oretical and practical writers put their hands to the 
work, and many experiments of all sorts had to be 
made in order to create a wholly artistic system of 
contrapuntal writing, which in many cases took over- 
subtle and exaggerated forms. 

In the period of the Netherlanders were developed 
the canon, augmentation and diminution of the theme, 
imitation and inversion of the theme, besides the be- 
ginnings of the fugue. The names of Dufay, Ocken- 
keim, Josquin de Prés, Gombert and Orlando di Lasso 
are the most important ones of the period. They 
prepared Italy for her musical independence. Their 
influence became especially strong in Rome and Venice 
(also in Naples), where the contrapuntal and poly- 
phonic principles worked out in the field of a capella 
song, so that we hear of a Roman school of composi- 
tion, a Venetian school and a Neapolitan school. 


PALESTRINA’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 
4. Palestrina and His School (Sixteenth and Seven- 
teenth Centuries). ; 

This period marks the culmination of a capella song 
in the Catholic Church. Palestrina, whose style was 
founded on the Gregorian chants, brought to glorious 
perfection that which the laborers of earlier times had 
been preparing. His church music is full of sacred 
dignity, and is free from all the scholastic limitation 
of the Middle Ages. Examples of his style are: The 
Missa Papae Marcelli, the Missa Brevis and the Stabat 
Mater. The work of Palestrina was one of the great- 
est events in the development of music, because he 
showed for the first time (as Mozart did later), that 
great effects can be made with simple means. Great 
composers of the Palestrina school were: Allegri, Vit- 
toria, Marenzio, Nanini, Frescobalo Pitoni. 


THE RISE OF THE OPERA. 
5. (Drama per Musica) About 1600 in Florence and 
Naples. 

The time of the Renaissance had come, the new 
birth of the life of the mind of the ancients, with its 
beautiful and natural manner of thought. The new 
morn of culture brought with it new ideals of life. That 
music did not lag far behind in this jubilant welcome 
of beauty and truth is easy to understand, for it is 
ever and always music that is the image, the reflection 
of the emotional life of every time. The town of 
Italy in which the influence of the renaissance was 
strongest was Florence; here, at the end of the six- 
teenth century, arose practically a new branch of music, 
a true child of the renaissance, the opera, the music- 
drama, the “opera in Musica.” This new style of music 
grew not out of the polyphony of the Middle Ages, 
but from solo singing, from the individual musical 
speech, which from this 
time on began to over- 
power counterpoint in 
Italy. The modern sub- 
jective expression in 
music becomes 
stronger than the ob- 
jective style of the 
Middle Ages. With 
the opera arises mod- 
ern music. The fol- 


Guna lowing innovations 


“H. Scaura (Pupil of A. Gabrieliy 
Bacu ANDEL 


date from this period: 
1. Beside the dis- 
tinctive scale of the 


pie <= 


= 


ory which they had 
studied out; in general, 
the artistic conception je Fe 


Piccini Jomelli 


A Scartatti (Naples) 
i Lotti Marcello 


= ~ =o 
Guiuck Gretry 


Méhul 


Haypn 


Cherubini. Spontini. Boieldieu. Auber. 


was objective (rather Rossini Bevuint 
than other). With the 
later and latest com- 
posers the art principle 
lies in the inspiration, 
the intuition, and the 


VERDI 
Borto 
Mascacni 
Puccint 


Boss1 SGAMBATI 


DonizeTT1 
MEYERBEER: 
rT ae , > a ae ee 
Bizet Cuopin MAsseNnet SAINnT-SAENS 
CHARPENTIER 
Cesar Franck and his Schoo! 
Desussy, DuKas 


Gounop ApAM 


=, 
LEONCAVALLO 


Perosi 


Guiuckx 


Weber. Spohr. Marschner. Mendelssohn. Schumann. 
SS SIDE EE EEE SS Se SS 


R. Wacner 


R. Strauss 
ScHILLINGS 


Middle Ages, with its 
eight tones, stands the 
chromatic scale, with 
> twelve tones. Zarlino, 
the Venitian (1517- 
1590), introduced EvEN 
TEMPERAMENT, or tem- 
pered tuning, and de- 
clared the old Pytha- 


Mozart * BEETHOVEN 
F. ScnuBEert 


BrauMs 
Berutoz; Liszt 
PrITzNER 
MAHLER 
REGER 


gorean system of tones to be no longer possible. The 
works in which Zarlino sets forth his ideas are called 
Institution Harmoniche and Demonstrazioni Har- 
moniche, 

2. Recitative (Parlanto Representativo). 

3. THE FREE MANNER OF EXPRESSION in instrumental 
music (organ, piano and violin), which threw off the 
restrictions of vocal music, whose echo it had been. 

The first opera was Daphne, by Peri. It consisted 
of recitatives, accompanied by a clavicembalo or a lute. 

Claudio Monteverde (born 1568, Cremona; died 1643, 
Venice), lifted the Italian opera above its feeble be- 
ginnings. His epoch-making operas were Orianna and 
Orfeo. His innovations were: 1. The break with the 
old scale systems. 2. Free introduction of the disso- 
nance. 3. First use of the unprepared seventh chord. 
4. Definite distinction between piano and forte. 5. Use 
of tremolo and pizzato in string instruments. 


6. THE CLASSIC MASTERS OF GERMANY. 


a. Bach, Handel, Gluck, the first trinity in German 
music development. 

b. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, the second trinity. 
These men, who with their creations mark the rich- 
est period of German music, were for Germany the 
great power in the realm of tone, which was already 
known to Italy. We designate them as “classic” there- 
fore, because their works must serve as models and 
patterns for all time. The most intimate union of 
form and content is a distinguishing mark of their 
compositions, which are most widely removed from 
the banal and the trivial. Crude effects are not to 
be found in them. Especially do we perceive the or- 
ganic construction in our classic compositions. Art 
and nature, these two opposites, unite here in a man- 
ner altogether wonderful. These works present to us 
also the laws and normal forms which as guides we 
dare not neglect, and which warn us also against ec- 
centricities ; they are like the natural spring where we 
may drink and be restored, when we have wandered 
too far from Mother Nature. Their creation marks 
a civilizing power in human culture. 

The significance of J. S. Bach in the development of 
music rests on 

1. His activity in teaching, through which he became 
the founder of the modern Haus-musik and chamber 
music. — 

2. In new treatment of the Klavier Preludes, Sym- 
phonies, Inventions, Well-tempered Clavichord. 

3. The independent and artistic treatment of the 
string instrument (Suites for violin and violoncello). 

4. The working out and masterly command of poly- 
phonic and contrapuntal style. 

5. His unique position as the greatest of organ play- 
ers and of composers for the organ. 

6. The perfecting of Protestant Church music, which 
focussed in the congregational song—the chorale. 

7. The development of instrumental music. Because 
of his suites for orchestra and for solo instruments, 
Bach is to be regarded as the father of instrumental 
music. 

Bach is thus the fundamental type of a German com- 
poser; he is the creator of German music. His music 
is the source to which all composers of all times must 
go to learn what is needed for the creation of art- 
works. 

Of Bach’s sons, Philipp Emanuel, is the one who 
is to be considered in music-history, because of his 
influence in developing the Sonata. 

The importance of Handel (born 1685, in Halle; died 
1759, in London) in music development is chiefly in 
the field of oratorio. Handel is the founder of the 
epic style in music. He lived a long time in Italy, and 
united the beauty of the Italian melos with the Ger- 
man contrapuntal style. It is noteworthy that Handel 
did not limit the material of his oratorios to Biblical 
texts alone, but made use of mythical stories and his- 
torical events also. The subject which Handel loves to 
develop in most of his oratorios is that of an enslaved 
people freed by a hero who has grown up amongst 
them (Samson, Belsazar, Esther, Joshua, Jephtha, Judas 
Maccabaeus, etc.). 

Although Handel, like Bach, was a child of Protest- 
ant Christianity, he did not confine himself solely to the 
evangelistic ideas, but extended his spiritual horizon 
in all directions. Bach, on the contrary, was deeply 
imbued with religious piety, and stood for the purely 
churchly, religious ideals, as they grew out of the spirit 
of the Reformation. Bach’s works are closely con- 
nected with the Church; in Handel’s works the religion 
of the Church (although he wrote The Messiah) does 
not have the chief place. It was new to music and 
due to Handel that great events, historical incidents 
and human ideals should be celebrated in the art of 


sound, and in the style of the oratorio (the musical 
epic). 

Gluck was born in 1714, in Wiedenwang, in Bavaria, 
and died, 1787, in Vienna. His greatness and impor- 
tance lay in the province of dramatic music. He was 
the first of all musicians to raise the opera to the light 
of drama, for he subordinated absolute music to dra- 
matic necessity. Therefore he gave to recitative, that 
important factor of opera, attention hitherto unknown. 
Also, he required that the orchestra should be treated 
according to the demands of each situation and the 
ideas to be expressed. He was so significant, therefore, 
because he was nearer to nature than preceding com- 
posers in depicting character and situation on the stage. 
He may be called thé Lessing of the music-drama. 

Three tone-poets who gave a particularly strong im- 
pulse to the development of music by their labors are 
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Together with Bach, 
Handel and Gluck, they are the supporting pillars of 
our musical structure. In their works are the roots of 
all other musical endeavors; from them branch out 
all secondary growths. As types they represent those 
tendencies in style which have been named for them. 

Joseph Haydn (born 1732, in Rohrau, in Northern 
Austria, died 1809, in Vienna) was of special im- 
portance to chamber-music and instrumental music. 
Bach had made the form of the suite a complete whole; 
his son Philipp Emanuel had extended the form of 
the Sonata. It was Haydn who for all time established 
the art-form of the Sonata, its members and construc- 
tion. In doing this he also gave some individuality to 
separate instruments. In his orchestra are to be found 
more color and life, because he brought out the char- 
acteristics of the various instruments, and wrote themes 
especially suited to them. Haydn, therefore, is to be 
regarded as the founder of modern instrumental music, 
as it was expressed in his symphonies for orchestra 
and in his string quartets. The particularities of 
Haydn’s music are sunny, childlike cheerfulness, fresh 
and wholesome thought. It is a combination of the 
seriousness of North German schools and the South 
German gaiety; his ideals grew out of the folk-song 
and folk-dance. His greatness, however, consists in 
his manner of idealizing these dances and songs. For 
the old German dances and songs of the people ideal- 
izen in form, raised to the sphere of art, are what we 
hear in Haydn’s compositions. 

Mozart (born 1756, in Salzburg; died 1791, in Vi- 
enna) is not only the most genial of German com- 
posers, but also the most universal. For all that Bach, 
Handel, Gluck and Haydn contributed, each in his spe- 
cial style, Bach in the lyric, Handel in the epic, Gluck 
in the dramatic and Haydn as “father of the symphony 
and chamber-music”—all of these styles Mozart united 
in his works of art. 

Mozart and Rafael have much in common. The 
trait of universality is particularly striking in them 
both. The union of Italian and German characteristics 
is in Mozart’s works; the rare air of Italy breathes 
through them, commingling with the German atmosphere. 
Mozart, who was very sensitive in nature, was open 
in character and splendidly sincere; clever, without be- 
ing scheming or sly, he was also sympathetic, cheerful 
and courageous. His style shows the highest truth 
combined with the greatest beauty. He is the com- 
poser of the most perfect form and the embodiment of 
the genius of the beautiful in music. 

And now to Beethoven! There is hardly an edu- 
cated person who in reading or hearing a work of 
Beethoven is not involuntarily reminded of the highest 
conception of music—reminded that it is the power- 
fully affecting language of the deepest human emo- 
tions. And, truly, the name of Beethoven has become 
the personification of the highest and noblest ideals of 
music. 

With Beethoven, the history of his life and the devel- 
opment of his compositions go side by side, and are 
especially interesting to us. In him we come in contact 
with an exceptional character, who requires us to con- 
sider not only the purely human, but the deeply relig- 
ious, the political and the moral aspects of existence. 
The two chief chapters in the life of this great musi- 
cian and great man are: 

From 1770 to 1800. This period covers the time of 
study and preparation, which was influenced by the 
manner of Haydn and Mozart. 

From 1801 to 1827. In this period Beethoven’s crea- 
tions became wholly original. His greatness reaches 
its climax in his instrumental music. For Beethoven’s 
music did not exist merely because of the sensuous 
beauty of its sound; it was, on the contrary, an ethical 
power. As proof of his attitude we have his own 
dictum: “Music is a higher revelation than all of 
wisdom and philosophy.” 


5 


The epochs or periods into which Beethoven’s com- 
positions fall are: 

1. The_period in Bonn and Vienna, till 1800 or 1802 
(the youthful Beethoven), 

2. The period from 1800 (1802) to 1814 (the middle 
period). 

3. The time from 1814 till his death (the later Bee- 
thoven). 

Beethoven is already a child of the nineteenth cen- 
tury whose impassioned spirit makes itself felt in his 
creations, So his style is deeply emotional as com- 
pared with Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven demands of 
music that its style and idea shall correspond (expres- 
sion shall be characterized). Quite in contrast to the 
music of Haydn and Mozart, the music of Beethoven 
expresses the personal, the individual feelings. It is 
the utterance of the feeling of personal freedom. As 
with Haydn and Mozart, so also with Beethoven, the 
idiom-of the folk-song was the basis of his music. 
The art of these three heroes of music-history grew 
out of the deep longing to give expression to some- 
thing which could not be said in words. Music was 
for them not the slave of the lower pleasures, but a 
freeing, liberating power, the comfort of mankind. And 
truly, in these days of the division of labor, the man 
who comes out from his one-sided business pursuits 
into the influence of music, feels himself once more a 
whole and complete man; through her the oppressed 
may throw off his burden, and herein consists her liber- 
ating power. 


THE SONG AND FRANZ SCHUBERT. 


7. The Song and Its Classic Master, Frang Schubert. 

The culminating period of the German folk-song, 
which flourished from the fourteenth century to the 
beginning of the eighteenth, was followed by the de- 
velopment of the art-song and the chorus (art-song 
of the people). The song developed especially in the 
German nation. It was a particular growth of German 
musical life, and is found in such comprehensive and 
manifold forms in no other nation. 

After Bach, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven 
had made the first beginnings of the art-song, came 
Franz Schubert (1797-1828). 

To this is really due his important position in music 
history. His songs can be counted by hundreds, and 
they group themselves in four divisions, which include 
every style of song. 

Group 1. Those songs which are closely related to 
the folk-song in imitating its form and simple expres- 
sion; the form is as in the folk-song in strophes or 
stanzas. Examples are Sylvia, Hedge Roses and the 
Cradle Song. 

Group 2. Songs with extended forms, the so-called 
ternary song-form. 

Group 3. Those songs which take their musical form 
from the form of the poem. These songs show a 
wealth of resources. The piano accompaniment is im- 
portant in rhythm and harmony. 

Interesting melodic forms and characteristic modu- 
lations distinguish these songs. Examples are: “Ach! 
um deine feuchten Schwingen,’ several of the Miller's 
songs, songs from the “Winterreise,” the songs from 
“Fraulein vom See,” and the great “Waldesnacht.” 

Group 4. The ballades and kindred songs. In this 
group belong, for instance: The Erl King, Die Burg- 
schaft, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, The Wanderer, 
The Dwarf, Gruppe aus den Tartarus, The Young Nun 
and The Sea. 

Group 5. Those songs of Schubert’s in which the so- 
called instrumental melody does not dominate, but 
rather musical speech—musical declamation, founded on 
the prosody of the words of the text. Examples are: 
Orest auf Tauris, Der entsiihute Orest, Freiwilliges 
Versinken, Der Doppelganger and Grenzen der Mensci- 
heit. 

As has been said, in Schubert’s songs are com- 
prised all forms of the song (Lied), from the simp- 


lest, the folk-song, to the lyric recitative—musical 
speech. 

THE MUSICAL ROMANTICISTS. 
8. The Musical Romanticists. (Schubert, Spohr, 


Weber, Marschner, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Schumann 
and Brahms (nineteenth century). 

The songs of Schubert have already been recognized 
as marking an important epoch in the history of music. 
But in this next division we must consider Schubert 
yet again, with reference to his works in general. With 
Franz Schubert begins the series of great composers 
of the nineteenth century, whom we designate as “Ro- 
manticists.” In their compositions the peculiar tenden- 
cies to each, the individual, the personal, come more 
and more into the foreground, while the productions of 


the classicists of the eighteenth century chiefly sink 
the personal into the general and conventional. The 
struggle against the conventional, the stamp of the 
personal quality, is the distinguishing mark of the mus- 
ical compositions of the period which opens with the 
nineteenth century. We observe in the creations of 
the tone-poets, Schubert, Spohr, Weber, Marschner, 
Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms, an entirely new 
emotional content, which grows out of a new funda- 
mental tendency of thought, and this had been termed 
“Romanticism.” 

Romanticism appears at the end of the eighteenth 
century, and in the-course of the nineteenth as a ten- 
dency of human thought. In its influence there grew 
up a school of poets, of which the representative names 
are the two Schlegels, Ludwig Tieck, Wackenroder, 
Novalis, Schenkendorf, Matthison, Arhim von Arnim 
and Clemens Brentano. In painting, for example, Mor- 
itz von Schwind, is a true romanticist, and the friend- 
ship of Schubert for this artist is to be traced to the 
similarity of their ideals. 

It was a peculiar characteristic of human thought 
that it should return to that period from which the 
romantic idea first sprang—the time of the crusades, of 
chivalry, through which a new world—a world of mira- 
cles—was opened to the western countries of the 
Orient. Here suddenly was an unlimited field offered 
to the range of the imagination. The abstract, the im- 
material, the indeterminate, became the subjects to be 
represented in the arts of the romanticists. The Chris- 
tian miracles had no small share in preparing the mind 
of the people to receive the ideas of the romanticists. 
The murmuring of the brook, the rustling of the forest, 
the rolling of the thunder, became “romantic” through 
the new conception of their origin. To music a wide 
field for new expression was thus opened. New forms, 
new ideas in color and dynamics came from the com- 
posers of this romantic period. Compare, for example, 
simply the dynamics and instrumentation (coloring) of 
a composition by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven with 
those of a work by Weber or Mendelssohn. 

That the spirit which ruled the romantic poets influ- 
enced also the composers of this period is shown by 
the composers from Schubert to Brahms. Even Liszt 
and Wagner must also be reckoned as belonging to this 
period, in that they derived much of their material 
from romantic sources. (Schubert, the opera Alfonso 
and Estrella and Fierrabras; Spohr, the operas The 
Mountain Spirit; The Crusader, Zemire and Azor and 
Jessonda. With Weber romanticism appears in his 
three chief works, Freischiitz, Euryanthe and Oberon. 
In Freischiitz we see romanticism in the guise of the 
people (folk-lore); in Euryanthe we see it in the 
guise of the poetry of the middle ages, which tells of 
chivalry and knight-errantry (tales of chivalry), and in 
Oberon as the pure play of the imagination set free 
from all restraints of earth. Marschner, the opera The 
Vampire, Templar and Jewess, Hans Heiling and 
others. Mendelssohn, the cantata Walpurgisnacht, 
music for the Age of the Rose, Paradise and the Peri, 
the opera Genoveva. Brahms, the cantatas Rinaldo and 
Fingal. Liszt, Saint Elizabeth. Wagner, Tannhaeuser, 
Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal.) 


PROGRAM MUSIC. 


9. The Development of Program Music as an End 
in Itself. (Special types, Berlioz and Liszt.) 

Hector Berlioz (born 1803, died 1869), like Liszt, is 
important in the history of music, because he broke 
the bonds of formal expression wherever the expres- 
sion required such freedom. Berlioz, like Liszt, and 
Beethoven, in his latest period brought music to a 
height of expressiveness in depicting a situation which 
had never before been known. Words joined with 
music in the symphony, as in Beethoven’s Ninth, and the 
“Symphonic Ode,” arose. Berlioz is to be considered 
the founder of modern orchestral technic. To realize 
that with him a new principle of musical style has come 
into existence, one needs only to examine the Sym- 
phony Fantastique, the symphony with viola obbligato; 
Harold in Italy, Romeo and Juliet, The Damnation of 
Faust and to read the programs of the Fantastique 
and the Harold symphonies. 

Franz Liszt (born 1811, died 1886), the friend and 
contemporary of Berlioz, built further on this new 
principle of musical style in his symphonic poems, as 
well as in his two great symphonies with chorus, the 
Faust Symphony and the Dante Symphony. If we in- 
quire what is the difference between the symphony as 
it developed from Haydn to Beethoven, and the sym- 
phonic poem created by Liszt, the answer is: The sym- 
phony is a composition in several movements, based 
on general types of emotional life; the symphonic poem 
is composed in one continuous movement; it receives 


its form from a poetical idea which is set forth in a 
program. The symphonic poem, therefore, has not 
grown out of a pre-established form, but it is the direct 
product of poetic thought. The symphonic poems of 
Liszt, which have been a great inspiration to modern 
musical life and have found many imitators are: 1. Ce 
qu'on entend sur la montagne (Bergsymphonie) ; 2. 
Tasso (Lamento e trionfo); 3. Les Preludes; 4. Or- 
pheus; 5. Prometheus; 6. Mazeppa; 7. Festklinge; 8. 
Héroide Funébre; 9, Hungaria; 10. Hamlet; 11. Hun- 
nenschlacht; 12. Die Ideale. 


RICHARD WAGNER, 


10. The Creator of the National Music Drama, Rich- 
ard Wagner (1813-1883). 

The culmination of the last great period of music 
history is marked by Richard Wagner and his influence 
on the development of music. Wagner is the creator 
of the drama as a product of the combined arts. His 
music dramas have only the externals—the materials, 
in common with the previous operas. The musical in- 
novations which we find in them are—new harmonic 
devices, new effects of instrumentation, musical decla- 
mation, and the Leit motif. In general, the antique 
drama was Wagner’s model of form, while as poet 
he drew his material from the German myths and 
the German legends of the. middle ages. Musically, 
he was influenced by the compositions of loftiest in- 
spiration, from Palestrina to Beethoven. The essen- 
tially human was the idea which Wagner sought in 
the material of his music dramas—the eternal struggle 
of light with darkness, the contest of freedom, of love 
and of faith, with the evil powers of the world. From 
The Flying Dutchman to Parsifal through all the 
operas runs as a leading idea the theme of redemp- 
tion. Wagner devoted his art to the themes of the 
highest moral ideals of humanity and because it is a 
source of the highest edification it may be regarded as 
the sister of religion. Therefore Wagner’s stage is 
no theater in the ordinary sense but a temple. From 
the union of poet, musician and thinker (philosopher) 
arose Wagner’s art work for which he took possession 
of all man’s powers. Song is the speech of his charac- 
ters who are not itdividual limited separate beings in 
the historical sense but types of nature and of humanity 
as these were embodied in the German myth. It would 
carry us beyond the limits of this sketch to trace the 
ethical and ideal content of Wagner’s music drama. 
According to him the realization of the incompleteness 
of life and of a loveless world led to a visitation which 
pointed the way to those high moral ideals which the 
master expresses in his music dramas. From the Fly- 
ing Dutchman to Parsifal they depict all-pitying love in 
its unselfishness and deep sympathy. Love in all its 
forms is according to Wagner the one effectual power 
for the redemption of man and this view gives to his 
art a widely human significance. Wagner’s composi- 
tions comprise: Rienzi, The Flying Dutchman, Tann- 
hiuser, Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, The Master- 
singers of Nuremburg, The Ring of the Niebelungs 
and Parsifal. 

We have come to the end of our journey through the 
centuries. We have seen that music, especially the art 
of song arose from Italy. In Italy took place the evo- 
lution from the universal to the individual form of 
expression in song—music combined with words. Song 
was quite distinct from absolute music. The province 
of vocal music comprised the following forms: the 
melodrama, the song in its many modifications, the mass 
(for church use), the oratorio, the opera, and the music 
drama. Word and tone were each the complement of 
the other, and mutually assisted toward more definite 
expression—the word as the bearer of thought, and tone 
as the direct utterance of emotion. As the word gives 
to thought a certain definite expression, so tone supplies 
the general mood. And so vocal music has acquired 
an especial significance in opera and music drama, as 
well as in song and oratorio. We have learned that 
Florence and Naples were the two cities which gave 
rise to the opera, the drama with the addition of 
music. Polyphony, which in the church music of the 
Netherlands had become a ruling influence in Italy, 
met a counter influence in Florence—monody and reci- 
tative; in Naples, the aria—the melodic style, which 
gave an extraordinary impetus to individual, personal 
expression. It was a strong influence which the opera. 
originating in Italy, exerted on France, Germany and 
other countries of musical importance. The art of 
singing first began to flourish in the opera of Italy, 
fostered by the climatic influences in this land of 
beautiful voices. In Germany, less rich in natural 
voices, instrumental music developed to its highest tech- 
nical perfection. 

The Italians, as a rule, sacrificed truth of expression 


6 


in the opera to senstious beauty of tone and virtuosity. 
These tendencies were, as we saw, reformed by Gluck. 
From Gluck, through Mozart and Weber, down te 
Wagner, opera made such tremendous advance that in 
Wagner’s time it had lost all its distinctively Italian 
characteristics. We have seen Germany receive her 
inheritance after the decline of music in Italy—an 
inheritance which she used in her own ways. At the 
very beginning of the great German movement stand 
the masters Bach, Handel and Gluck; Bach as master 
of the lyric form, Handel of the epic, Gluck of the 
dramatic. In their works are the germs of all the 
music of great significance which has been written 
since, whether absolute music or vocal, whether in 
Germany or in other countries. Their great successors, 
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, developed the funda- 
mental characteristics of instrumental music, and Schu- 
bert, Mendelssohn and Schumann perfected the art- 
song, in which no people is*so rich as the German 
nation. For besides the symphonies of Beethoven, the 
symphonic poems of Liszt and the music dramas of 
Wagner, it is the art-song which, through Schubert, 
marks an epoch in the development of music at the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. If, in Italian 
opera, music was degraded and made only the servant 
of language; in the modern song, she has become a 
true comrade. In the songs of the great modern 
masters we can perceive how great a capacity for ex- 
pression Music has acquired in the course of nearly 
two thousand centuries of growth. How much has 
she been able to intensify, to make truly impressive, 
the language of poetry! It is probable that in Wagner’s 
works the union of language and music has reached 
its highest possibility. No wonder, then, if this master 
is, of all composers of our time, the one most beloved 
of the people. But all of us, as we stand, rapt and 
wondering before this last giant of our art, desire to 
heed and to honor all the many other outpourings of 
art, especially all honest and sincere music. Let us 
not be narrow-minded; let us belong to no party, but to 
Art. So shall we share in the blessings of this great 
kingdom, which, like a vast garden, contains a wealth 
of flowers and fruit for him who comes in need! 
—HERMANN RITTER. 


CONCLUSION. 


It was Prof. Ritter’s intention in a later article to 
treat upon American music of which he was a great ad- 
mirer and with which he was surprisingly familiar. His 
admiration did not end with an appreciation of a few 
of the best known works of MacDowell but compre- 
hended the compositions of the leading figures in 
American musical history from William Billings to the 
present. Unfortunately, however, Prof. Ritter was 
seized with a mental malady which made further work 
impossible. 

Our American musical beginnings, crude as they 
were, did not lack virility. The psalm-tunes which 
our Pilgrim Fathers brought to New England, together 
with their historic cargo of prejudices and conventions, 
religious and otherwise, form a very somber back- 
ground for our musical beginnings. William Billings 
(1746-1800), who seems to have attracted more atten- 
tion than any other of our American composers of the 
period, was a self-taught tanner who scrawled his first 
harmony exercises on hides. His “fugue tunes,” which 
were not fugues in any sense of the word, were among 
the first American flights from the dreary monotony 
of the psalm-tunes. Many of them were quite florid 
for the times. 

From Billings, one may jump to that great pioneer 
educator Lowell Mason, discussed in some detail in 
this work in the chapter devoted to his son and to 
Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Music in the fefties, the 
sixties and seventies showed indications of much initia- 
tive in America, particularly in the work of such men 
as William H. Fry, George F. Bristow, Dudley Buck, 
Wm. H. Sherwood, B. J. Long, John S. Dwight, John 
K. Payne, W. S. B. Mathews, Clarence Eddy, C. C. 
Converse, Root and others, but it was not until the 
coming of Edward MacDowell and other men who 
were enabled to combine lofty ideals with sufficient 
technic that America could be said to possess masterly: 
musicians. ; 

A work encompassing all that has been done by the 
musicians of the present and the past generation in 
America would require a separate volume. Therefore 
only American composers who have passed into merited 
immortality have been included in this volume. This 
is a matter of deep regret to the author as it would have 
been a privilege to have given adequate attention to 
such men as’ Nevin, Hadley, Chadwick, Parker, F. S. 
Converse, Huss, Cadman, Rogers, Herbert, Johns, 
Kroeger, de Koven, Smith, Sousa, Kelly, Loeffler, Good- 
rich and others. 


ope ee ee i le A a ets a ec a 
TOT a UAE AURA 


SNA 


BACH’S PERIOD. 


PiLunper and bloodshed for a third of a century 
now passes down in history under the glorified 
title of the “Thirty Years’ War.” Perpetrated 
in the name of religion, but carried on with bar- 
barities unlimited, this long succession of battles 
moved over Germany like some frightful cata- 
clysm, leaving in its track poverty, misery and despair. 
The peaceful art suffered most and the conditions of 
the art workers were desperate. For years thereafter 
musicians fared miserably. One Heinrich Bach, for 
instance, was reduced to such extremes that he was 
obliged to petition for help, exclaiming, “I know not 
where to find bread for myself and my young family.” 
Despite this and other cases of poverty and affliction 
the family of Bach survived to produce wonderful 
works of art. 


A REMARKABLE FAMILY. 


When a family is catalogued by number in dozens of 
musical reference works it may easily be seen that its ac- 
complishments have been, to say the least, unusual. Thus 
the ‘‘clan’’ of Bach, as one writer has expressed it, pro- 
duced nearly sixty musicians. Hans Bach of Wechmar 
stands at the head of the genealogical table. The first of 
renown was one-Veit Bach, son of Hans named after the 
good St. Vitus, whose mercy was often invoked for the 
cure of diseases including the distressing aflfliction named 
after him. Veit Bach had settled in Presburg, Hungary, 
where he milled grain and baked bread for a living, now 
and then playing upon the cithara for the delight of his 


idealistic mind. The cithara was a kind of sixteenth 
century guitar or lute. (It is possible, however, that the 
instrument might have been a_ zither.) When religious 


persecution drove Veit from Hungary to the village of 
Wechmar in Thuringia his interest in music increased. In 
the catalogue of -Bach’s we find the great Johann Sebastian 
in the sixth generation from Hans Bach (about 1561) and 
the descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach reach down to 
1845, when Bach’s musical grandson Friedrich Ernst Wil- 
helm died in Berlin. Thus it may be seen that the 
musical endeavors of this family covered nearly three cen- 
Some of these enthusiastic workers held distin- 


turies. 
guished positions, others were little above the rank of 
what in those days were known as “beer fiddlers,” 


Tt is interesting to note that when the musicians of upper 
and lower Saxony united in a union known as the Jnstru- 
mental Musikalische Collegiums in dem ober und _ nieder- 
sachsischen Kreise und anderer interessierter Oerter, no 
record is found of any member of the Bach family. How 
much the status of musicians must have been lowered at 
that time can only be estimated by reading some of the 
reforms this XVII century musicians’ union proposed. The 
follcwing quotations are significant: ‘No man, whether he 
be master, assistant or apprentice, shall divert himself by 
singing or performing coarse obscenities or disgraceful or 
immodest songs or ballads inasmuch as they greatly . pro- 
voke the wrath of almighty God and vex decent souls, 
particularly the innocence of youth.’’ “Everyone shall have 
around him pious and faithful assistants so that nothing 
may be stolen from the invited guests.’ “No man shall 
dare perform on dishonorable instruments, such as bag- 
pipes, sheep horns, hurdy-gurdies, and triangles which 
beggars often use at street doors, so that the noble art 
would be brought into contempt and disgrace by them.’ 
“Every man shall abstain from all blasphemous talk, pro- 
fane cursing and swearing.’ ‘No man shall give attend- 
ance with jugglers, hangmen, bailiffs. gaolers, conjurers, 
rogues, or any other such low company.” It is evident 
that the God-fearing Bachs did not consider it necessary 
for them to align thémselves with men who felt obliged to 


' put such restriction upon their behavior. 


BACH’S BIRTH. 


Devastating wars and widespread plagues prove a 
serious strain upon a race. The strong go down in 
battle and the weak perish in disease. It sometimes 
takes a generation of a family to regain its grasp 
upon the best in life after the death-dealing blows of 
battles and epidemics. The peaceful calling of the Bach 
famjly, the healthful surrounding of Wechmar, Arn- 
stadt, Erfurt and Eisenach had much to do with the 
sturdy virility of the Bach family. Hans Bach son of 
Veit was known as Der Spielman (The Player) and 
was a kind of touring violin virtuoso of his day. His 
son Christoph was the court musician of Eisenach 
and wrote many effective organ pieces in the style of 
his time. His son Johann Ambrosius was a fine organ- 
ist. His son was the foundation rock of modern 
musical art, Johann Sebastian Bach. Johann Sebastian 
Bach was born at Eisenach, March 21st, 1685. The 
house in which he was born is still standing under the 
shadow of one of the most romantic medieval castles 
in Germany, Die Wartburg. Bach’s mother was Eliza- 
beth Lammerhirt, the daughter of a furrier. His father 
was the Court and Town musician of Eisenach. 


“Anyone could do as much as I have done if he 
worked as hard.” 


BACH’S EARLY YEARS. 


Bach’s first instruction came from his father, who taught 
him to play the violin. Both of his parents died when the 
boy was only ten years old and the little orphan went to 
live with his elder brother, Johann Christoph, a pupil of 
Pachelbel and organist at Obrdruf. This brother sought 
to repress the enthusiasm of the little Bach rather than 
encourage it. There is a well authenticated anecdote of 
Johann Sebastian purloining a manuscript volume of pieces 
of Pachelbel, Frohberger, Kerl, Buxtehude, etc., by twisting 
it out from behind the latticed doors of a locked cupboard— 
then taking the precious work to the garret and copying 
it by moonlight. Although he spent six months in this 
labor of love his brother took the copy away from him 
when he found what the little fellow had been doing. 

Because he had a beautiful soprano voice he secured ad- 
mission without tuition fees at the school of St. Michael 
in Liineburg, where the organist B6hm helped in his educa- 
tion. During vacations the youth trudged on foot to 
Hamburg to hear the famous Dutch organist, Reinken. 

Since Hamburg was about twenty-five miles away Bach’s 
enthusiasm was truly monumental. Bach's greatest bio- 
grapher, Philipp Spitta, allows the statement that Bach 
made frequent journeys on foot. He also quotes the in- 
teresting anecdote which relates how the boy upon a return 
journey found himself with only two coins and a huge 
appetite. He sat down outside of an inn and commenced 
to cry. The odor of the viands cooking in the kitchen 
floated out of the window to him. He sniffed them eagerly. 
A few moments later two herrings’ heads fell on the ground 


BACH’S BIRTHPLACE. 


7, 


ys him, evidently cast out by some one who 


\ beside 
wished to see if he were really hungry. The boy 
took them up to eat voraciously. In each head he 
found a golden ducat. He never discovered who his 
¥ benefactor was. 
} At_ the neighboring ““Hofkapelle” at Celle, Bach 
found another advantage. The players were practi- 
y, eally all French, and Bach thus had an opportunity 
) to become acquainted with another style of musical 
composition which in those days of restricted travel 
was naturally somewhat different. Bach’s next move was 
to Weimar, where he became ‘tHofmusikus” in the band of 
Prince Johann Ernst. Thence he went to Arnstadt to he 
come organist at the “new church.” 

In 1705 Bach received permission from the church 
authorities at Arnstadt to visit Liibeck for the purpose of 
hearing the great Danish organist, Buxtehude. A journey 
of fifty miles was made on foot. Bach was so fascinated 
that he over stayed his leave three months and was very 
severely criticized when he returned. 

In i707 Bach became organist of 
Blasius at Miihlhausen in Thuringia. 
married his cousin Maria Barbara Bach, 
Michael] of Gehren. 


the church of St. 
In the same yerr he 
daughter of Johann 


BACH’S REGULAR ADVANCEMENT. 


One year later Bach went to Weimar as court organist 
and Kammermusikus. This appointment is generally 
considered the end of his period of study since he com- 
menced at once to produce works which were marked 
with mastery. A period of great creative activity com- 
menced at once and we are not surprised that in a 
few years (1714) he became the “Hof-Concertmeister.” 
Although, unlike Handel, Bach never ventured very far 
from home he did make short trips to Cassel, Leipsic, 
and Halle and Carlsbad. Upon one occasion in Dresden 
he was induced to challenge the French organist, Mar- 
chand, to a keyboard duel. Marchand accepted, but in 
the meantime took it upon himself to hear his opponent 
play. When the time for the duel came, Marchand, 
doubtless feeling that wisdom was the better part of 
valor, did not put in an appearance. Bach was easily 
declared the victor. 

1717 Bach was called to Cothen by Prince ‘Ledpeid 
and appointed capellmeister. His salary, considered a 
good one in those days, was $300 a year. Bach became 
a great friend of the’ Prince and was in his company 
much of the time. Twice they went together to Carls- 
bad. Upon the return in 1720 he was shocked to 
learn that his wife had died and had been buried for 
some time. 

In the meantime Bach’s great contemporary, Handel, 
was making immense successes in widely separated parts 
of Europe. Bach naturally wanted to meet him and 
it is said that the public was anxious to have them 
compete after the manner of the time, but although 
Bach made two attempts to meet Handel (1719 and 
1729), it was impossible to arrange a meeting much to 
the regret of both great masters. 

In 1720 Bach attempted to secure the position of 
organist at the “Jacobi Kirche” in Hamburg but owing 
to corruption in the church management the position 
went to an unknown applicant who actually paid 4000 
marks for the position. 


BACH AT LEIPSIC. 


Finally Bach received the coveted appointment of cantor 
(precentor, conductor or trainer of a choir) at the famous 
Thomasschule in Leipsic. He took his new position in 
1723. While the title was not so lofty as that he had held 
at Céthen, the field was wider and gave room for far 
greater activity. He also had advantages in the way of 
furthering the education of his sons. The position was not 
won without competition as there were other applicants. 
It fell to Bach not only because of his musica] ability but 
because of his wide general learning. He was required, for 
instance, to give five Latin lessons a week. Bach’s inaugu- 
ration in his new work was made a funetion. His residence 
was in the school building. His coming marked the begin- 
ning of new life in the famous old school. 


THE THOMASSCHULE, 


The Thomasschule or school of St. Thomas was 
founded by the Augustine monks in the thirteenth cen- 
tury. It became a town school in 1543. Singers for 
many of the Leipsic churches are selected from the 
school and once a week this body was assembled in one 
choir (Thomaner-Choir). The discipline at the school 


was very strict. The boys were obliged to rise at five 
in the morning and retire at eight in the evening. 

The manner in which Bach received his income at this 
time was very interesting. His salary was compara- 
tively small, amounting to 100-thalers, but he received 
in addition free rental, and various perquisites such as 
13 thalers and 3 grosschen for wood and lights, contri- 
butions from different foundations or endowment funds, 
an annual allowance of 16 bushels of corn (wheat?), 
2 cords of firelogs, and last of all two measures of 
wine at Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, provided 
through the munificence of the church. In addition, 
the school fees amounted to something. Twice a week 
eight of the boys ran around town with collection boxes 
receiving small donations. In this way Bach’s income 
averaged some 700 thalers. 


BACH’S HAPPY HOME LIFE. 


While in Leipsic, Bach had much time for composition. 
Ignorant laymen continually bothered him with stupid criti- 
cisms so that at one time be felt that he would be obliged 
to leave the city for which he was doing so much. Bach 
was obstinate, and it is known that he continually con- 
tended with one of the rectors. His family life, however, 
was ideal. After the death of his first wife he felt the need 
of some one to look after his growing family, and falling in 
love with Anna Magdelina Wilken, daughter of the Court 
Trumpeter of Weissenfels, married her on the third of 
December, 1721. She was very musical, a fine singer, and 
devoted to her famous husband. Naturally their home be- 
came tbe center of the musical activity of the city. Pupils 
came to him from great distances, and visiting musicians 
never failed to call upon him. 


BACH’S VISIT TO FREDERICK THE GREAT. 


Honors came fast to Bach in his later years. In 
1736, the honorary appointment of Hof-Componist was 
given him by the Elector of Saxony. In 1747 Fred- 
erick the Great informed Bach’s son Emanuel, then 


a cembalist (equivalent to conductor) of the court 


orchestra, that his imperial majesty would receive 
Bach at the Palace in Berlin. Bach accepted, and 
his visit to Berlin was made an event. He played 


upon all the pianos and organs at Potsdam much to 
the delight of the king. He also improvised a six part 
fugue upon themes selected by himself and after his 
departure wrote out one of his improvisations from 
memory and dedicated it to the king. 


BACH’S BLINDNESS. 


When Bach was 64, his eyes commenced to fail. 
Overuse since childhood had stolen his vision. An 
English occulist performed an operation upon him but 
brought no satisfactory results. It will be remembered 
that Handel was also afflicted by blindness. In 1750 
Bach’s eyesight came back to him for a very few hours 
after which he was seized with apoplexy and died after 
a sickness of ten days. On his deathbed he dictated a 
choral, Ver deinen Thron tret ich hiermit. His death 
was widely mourned. The happy family broke up 
shortly thereafter. His wife, despite the apparent suc- 
cess of her sons, was forced to accept alms and was 
buried in a pauper’s grave. 


BACH AS A PERFORMER. 


Enough bas been said in the fore- 


going to indicate that Bach had 
no equal as a performer during his 
lifetime. In a day when contests 
for supremacy were 10 order, rival 


organists let the great Bach severely 
alone. His organ performances were 
unusual in that they drew large 


crowds. The organist familiar with 
the Bach repertoire realizes how 
slight has been the real advance in 


since the time of the 
In fact, many go so 
there bas been 


organ music 
great cantor. 
far as to insist that 
no advance at all. 


BACH AS A CONDUCTOR. 


In Bach’s time plaving and con- 
ducting were so closely associated 
that one cannot think of Bach as a 
conductor in the sense in which one 
would think of Berlioz or Wagner. 
It is known, however, that he was a 


very strict disciplinarian, discharg- 
ing his performers and singers at 
once when there were signs of neg- 


iect or other just provocation. 


BACH AS A TEACHER. 


Tf Bach ever suffered from lack 
of pupils he had but to cast 
around in his own voluminous 
family for another. Without 
question Bach’s most celebrated 


pupils were his own sons, notably Carl Philipp Emanuel 
Bach. Although little known today, such men as 
Agricola, Kirnberger, Goldberg, Krebs and Abt Vogler, 
all of whom considered themselves disciples of Bach, 
were famed in their time. Bach showed his greatness 
in his patience. He never considered himself above 
small things. At first it was his custom to give only 
exercises in touch, in fingering, and in making the move- 
ment of each finger wholly independent. He was fond 
of writing pieces embodying the technical difficulty upon 
which the pupil was working. He also sought to estab- 
lish equality in the proficiency of the hand. Whatever the 
right hand did the left hand was obliged to do. He was 
fond of saying, “Anyone who works as hard as I| do 
may do as well as 1 do.” It is well known that he 
wrote a kind of instruction book or course for his son, 
Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, (Clavier Buchlein), which 
was never published for popular sale. One notable 
feature of this book is the attention given to ornaments 
and scale passages and also the fact that an opportunity 
was afforded for the son to compose and insert some 
pieces of his own as he went along. Bach’s Inventions 
were written mainly with an educational object. Bach 
insisted upon his pupils being equally familiar with 
all of the keys, rather than with a few. His Forty- 
eight Preludes and Fugues were written to comprehend 
all the keys. 


BACH’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Altogether, Bach was a very unusual man apart from 
his great musical talents. His disposition was kindly, yet 
he could stoutly defend himself in a dispute. He was very 
pious but could not be called narrow. He loved to travel 


but rarely ventured very far from his home. He was 
marvelously industrious. In his fiftieth year he wrote no 
less than twenty monumental cantatas. He was generous 


and hospitable, but at the same time economical. He pos- 
sessed mauy instruments including five claviers, and enough 
in the way of violins, ’cellos and other string instruments 
to provide for concerted music in his home when the op- 
portunity offered. Bach was a_ strong, earnest worker, 
dignified in his bearing and yet courtly in his carriage. His 
face indicates alertness, a sense of humor, natural vigor 
and confidence in bis technical security. 


BACH’S COMPOSITIONS. 


A space equal to the entire length of this biography 
would scarcely be adequate to accommodate a complete 
catalogue of all of Bach’s works. First in consequence, 
considered numerically, are the great number of Can- 
tatas, of which there are five complete sets for every 
Sunday and feast day in the year. In addition there 
are other cantatas both sacred and secular and even 
comic. One had to do with the craze for coffee drink- 
ing, which overcame Leipsic in the time of Bach. 

The five Passions, including the immortal St. John 
and St. Matthew, The Christmas Oratorio, the Mass 
in B Minor, two Magnificats, several fine eight-part 
motets and many other voice works give some idea 
of his great contribution to vocal musical art. 

Of his remarkable works for the organ the most 
noted are his great fugues, for all time the models of 
this style of composition. Six Concertos and two over- 
tures comprise his orchestral works. It seems well 
nigh useless to touch upon his compositions for the 


MORNING PRAYERS IN THE BACH FAMILY. 


8 


cembalo, spinet, clavichord, violin, ‘cello, etc. The 
fugues, concertos, suites, toccatas, preludes, fantasias, 
partitas, sonatas are a treasure mine which in many 
cases is rarely visited because of the difficulty of the 
compositions and because the style in which they are 
written has in a measure lost favor with many mu- 
sicians who clamor for nothing but Schumann, Chopin, 
Mendelssohn and Liszt. 


BACH’S VERSATILITY. 


Composer, conductor, teacher, organist, pianist, scholar, 
musical scientist, Bach was one of the most versatile of all 
musicians. When he felt the need for an instrument he 
set about and invented it. He was very much interested 
in the construction of the organ and in the mechanical 
processes through which music is printed. His work in 
establishing the equal tempered system of tuning keyed 
instruments was monumental. 

Bach’s first wife was the mother of seven of his 
children, three of whom, Wilhelm Friedmann, Karl 
Philipp Emanuel and Johann Gottfried Bernhard, be- 
came musicians. Bach’s second wife was the mother of 
thirteen of his children, six of whom were sons. Of 
these Johann Christoph Friedrich and Johann Christian 
also became known in the musical world. Wilhelm 
Friedmann was described as the greatest organist in 
Germany after his father. For a time he lived in Halle 
and was known as the “Halle Bach.” He was improvi- 
dent and died a drunkard in Berlin. Karl Philipp 
Emanuel, known as the “Berlin” Bach, was conceded to 
be the greatest theorist of his time and was a composer 
of very great ability. His only teacher in music was 
his great father. Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach was 
the organist at Muhlhausen for some time but did not 
equal his brothers in his musical ability? Johann Chris- 
toph Friedrich, known as the “Buckeburger”’ Bach, was 
Chamber musician to Count von Lippe of Buckeburg. 
Had it not have been for the great talents of Karl 
Emanuel he might have ranked as the greatest of 
Bach’s sons. Johann Christian, known as the “Milan- 
ese” Bach, was for a long time organist of the Cathe- 
dral in Milan. Later he went to London, where he died. 
He was a prolific composer with tendencies leading him 
to follow the more or less frivolous Italian style. All 
of Bach's eight daughters died young except three. 
None showed pronounced musical talent. All of Bach’s 
famous sons were given a broad general education, some 
spending years at the University of Leipsic. 


A BACH PROGRAM. 


Grade. 
1. Fugue in C Minor (Piano) 320. > cicheeeeeeeeeene i 
2. My Heart Ever Faithful (Medium Voice)....... 6 
3. Gavotte and Bourrée in G (Piano) a... ee eee tj 
4. Loure in G (Third Violoncello Suite)............ 5 
5. Little Prelude in C Minor. (Plano) >a ae eee 3 
6. Gavotte in G@ Minor........05- eee 3 
7. Solfeggietto, by K. P. EB. Bach= eee 5 
8. Little. Prelude in D..... ....> «0 «asteheeeeeeeeee 4 
9. Sarabande in E Minor.....i.«05 ssn 6 


10. Ave-Maria written by Gounod as an obbligato over 
the first Prelude from the Wohl-Temperirte 
Clavier. 
Many excellent selections may be found in the Bach 
Album, A Collection of Favorite Pieces for the Piano 
which will prove of great assistance in making a program. 


QUESTIONS ABOUT BACH. 


1. State the condition of Ger- 
many which preceded  Bach’s 
birth. : 

2. Give a general idea of the 
remarkable achievements of the 
Bach family. 

3. Who were Bach’s teachers? 
. 4. What appointments did Bach 
hold prior to going to Leipsic? 

5. What was the Thomasschule ? 

6. Describe Bach’s home life. 

7. Tell of Bach’s famous visit 
to Frederick the Great. 

8. Give an account of Bach's 
ability as a composer—a teacher— 
a conductor, 

9. Describe Bach’s appearance. 

10. Who were Bach’s most fa- 
mous sons? 


BOOKS ABOUT BACH. 


Naturally an enormous number of 
books have been written about Bach, 
but of these the best are unquestion- 
ably the monumental works’ of 
Philipp Spitta, in three volumes, and 
1900 pages. Every detail of the life 


all the available authentic statistics 
have been assembled in this work. 
Sir Hubert Parry’s Bach is also very 
fine. Among the shorter books, Bach, 
by C. F. Abdy Williams, is one of 
the most interesting. 


of Bach is carefully considered and— 


AUNMUTATFMTOATUUTTONOMMAHOVITOOOUPRDVRNUOANUONOODNOGAOUOUQQOQOLALUCOROCUNGOOOUUTCOTEANQUUOOLGOLUONOUOORROUEGRUQUEURRUULEOLUECERCLUUEARUERUUGOQUOUOLLTDEGLORRGNEQGANERULCUOECOQOQOAUDUTOOOUUOORREUNUATROQCOUQOOEONORERCOAAGQOQUVORUUUUOOOQUAATANORAVVOMMOROAQUGRIOGUUGOLODOUOMU0NOO LACSEA VOLO. CCRERERHAFOPD ET HE 


E 
= 
= 
EI 
= 
= 
= 
E, 


BEETHOVEN’S PERIOD. 

BEETHOVEN was born at the beginning of the 
most powerful social and intellectual wave in 
modern history. The sixteenth, seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries had been marked by almost 
unceasing warfare of state against state. With 
the year 1770 we find a new kind of warfare 
coming into general prominence, that of the people 
against monarchy resulting in a marvelous revival of 
the spirit of liberty; mental, artistic and political, The 
seedlings of Rousseau, Franklin, Patrick Henry, Vol- 
taire, Jefferson, Payne and other iconoclasts detested 
by the aristocrats of the times, were developing the 
massive oaks which provided the timber for at least 
two great republics, France and the United States. 
Beethoven teemed with this new spirit of liberty. 
Haydn and Mozart literally knelt before the royal 
throne, avoiding innovations which might prove revolu- 
tionary. With Beethoven, however, all was different 
and he may be regarded as the first composer of a 
new epoch. 

BEETHOVEN’S ANCESTRY. 


Beethoven’s family, originally from a village near Lou- 
vain, Belgium, moved to Antwerp about 1650. The prefix 
“van” is not a sign of nobility. Beethoven’s grandfather 
was a bass singer in the court band of the Elector of 
Cologne, at Bonn, Germany. His father was a tenor singer 
in the same body. Beethoven’s mother, the daughter of 
the chief cook at the palace of Ehrenbreitstein, was sweet- 
tempered and benevolent. The father was drunken and 
abusive. In fact the boy was repeatedly obliged to recover 
his hopelessly intoxicated parent from the police authorities. 


BEETHOVEN’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Into such a home and with such parents came Ludwig 
van Beethoven, born in Bonn, Germany, December 16th 
(baptized 17th), 1770, just one year after the birth of 
the little Corsican infant that was to disturb the equilibrium 
of political. Hurope, as Beethoven upset the musical balance 
of the world. The father’s income was limited to about 
800 florins a year. Even at that time one hundred and 
fifty dollars was a small amount, and the poverty of the 
Beethovens can easily be imagined. 


BEETHOVEN’S EARLY TRAINING. 


The penury-stricken father realized the boy’s great 
talent. Remembering the fortunate childhood of Mo- 
zatt, he forced the little fellow to practice with so 
much cruelty, that we are not surprised that the child 
repeatedly rebelled. His father taught him both the 
violin and the clavier. His general education was 
greatly hampered and had it not been for the fortunate 
friendship of educated people later in life he might 
have suffered from this. At nine Beethoven studied 
music with a tenor singer named Pfeiffer. Later he 
received lessons from the organist of the court chapel, 
van der Eeden. In 1781 the English chargé d’affaires 
gave Beethoven 400 florins to pursue his work. 

His next teacher was van der Eeden’s successor, 
C. L. Neefe. Beethoven became so proficient that 
Neefe appointed him as his deputy organist and Bee- 
thoven, at the age of twelve, often substituted for his 


teacher. At this age he was able to play most of Bach’s 
Well-tempered Clavier. Shortly thereafter we find the 
boy “cembalist im Or- 
chester,” directing the 


band at the court thea- 
ter. In the same year 
Beethoven’s first pieces 
(Schilderung eines Mad- 
chens and Three Sonatas 
for Piano Solo) were 
published. 

At the theater - the 
operas of Gluck, Salieri 
4 and Paisiello were given, 
and the youth was 
greatly benefited by this 
experience, although the 
theatrical company was 
discontinued in 1784. 
Beethoven lost little, as 
he had given his services 


BEETHOVEN’S BIRTHPLACE 


A LE TT TE 


i 


Se 
Co 


@ 
ES 


PUMNUUDOTODUNOVORRGARODNONONUOUOTODANEGUOIORNQEQNONUQUGUOQNOMROAUNNVONONDOUDUDRONDUURONOOHOROLONAUGNONAADANGOVAODDHNONON 


es a, 


TBARS 


oi 


1770—The Real Beethoven—1827 


ISIS IES 


D>. rts 3 


“Plaudite aes comoedtia finita est” 


free. After playing for a short time at a church in 
Bonn, Beethoven was.engaged by the Elector as an 
organist at a salary of 150 florins, and his father was 


MAX KLINGER’S FAMOUS STATUE OF BEETHOVEN. 


retained at his old stipend of 300 florins a year. In 


1785 Beethoven was enabled to study violin with Franz 
Ries. 


BEETHOVEN’S LATER EDUCATION. 


In 1787 Beethoven journeyed down the wonderful 
Rhine to Vienna. There he had a few lessons from 
Mozart. At their first meeting Beethoven’s playing 
made little impression upon the older master. The latter 
thought that Beethoven was merely playing an exhibi- 
tion piece. The youth begged Mozart to give him a 
theme upon which to improvise. Mozart did so and 
then went to an adjoining room with some friends. In 
a few minutes he said, “Pay attention to him. Some 
day he will make a noise in the world.” 

Returning to Bonn, Beethoven made the acquaintance 
of Count Waldstein, who assisted the young composer 
greatly. Beethoven in return dedicated a Sonata, Opus 


9 


eae 


aC MINT el 


53, to him, and the Sonata is now generally 
known as the Waldstein Sonata. In 1788 the 
Elector broadened his musical scheme and _ in- 
creased the scope of the work at the court opera, 
with Reicha as director. Beethoven played sec- 
ond viola in the band of thirty-one pieces and 
retained his position as second organist. 
Haydn, then at the height of his fame, passed through 
Bonn in 1792. He was honored by a dinner given by 
the Elector’s band. Beethoven’s cantata, composed for 
the occasion, won the admiration of Haydn and influ- 
enced the Elector to send the young man to Vienna to 


O Violino MLO 


co sae waren ra 
{ae eS SECS SASS Ra SS Se 


7 
—" 
Pens 4 


a or ew SA 8 LS se 


SSSs ese Seize ara 
ar oes 1 eee a = 


MANUSCRIPT OF BEETHOVEN, 


study with the great creator of the symphony. Bee- 
thoven remained with Haydn a little over a year, paying 
him at the rate of. twenty cents an hour for his lessons. 
Dissatisfied with the lack of attention he was receiving 
from Haydn and realizing that he needed the pains- 
taking care of a real teacher, rather than the fame 
of a great master, Beethoven sought other teachers, 
among them Schenk (composition), Schuppanzigh (vio- 
lin), but most renowned of all, Albrechtsberger, the 
renowned specialist in counterpoint who, after months 
of hard work, said this about Beethoven: “Have noth- 
ing to do with him. He has learnt nothing and will 
never do anything in decent style.” 


BEETHOVEN’S LATER LIFE. 


In Vienna Beethoven found innumerable friends, 
willing publishers and limitless opportunities for making 
his works public. He played in public as a pianist for 
the first time in 1795, performing his C major Concerto. 
His two greatest rivals were the now forgotten pianists, 
Steibelt and Wolff. He won the homage of-monarchs 
and despite his infinite boorishness and well-nigh unfor- 
givable eccentricities became the foremost figure of his 
time in the Austrian capital. 


BEETHOVEN’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Beethoven was short and thickset, with very broad 
shoulders. His hair in youth was very black. His eyes 
“like jet” were exceptionally brilliant and penetrating. 
His teeth were regular and despite his careless habits 
were kept “dlean. His head 
was large and his forehead 
made impressive by his heavy 
hair and thick eyebrows. 
From early youth his face 
was pock-marked, but his 
complexion was ruddy. Per- 
haps the most just apprecia- 
tion of his appearance comes 


from his admirer, the 
Countess Gallenburg: “He 
was meanly dressed, very 


ugly to look upon, but full 
of nobility and fine feeling c! 
and highly cultivated.” 

Despite his irregular habits 
Beethoven was a most pains- 
taking worker, saving his 
themes with the penurious 


care of a miser and develop- LYSER’S PEN DRAWING OF 
ing them with the most BEETHOVEN, WITH THE 
minute attention to details. MASTERS AUTOGRAPH 


Brusque to rudeness, thought- SIGNATURE, 


BEETHOVEN’S FATHER. BEETHOVEN S MOTHER. 
less of others, irascible and selfish at times, he was 
nevertheless charitable and willing to provide for 
his less fortunate relatives. He loved a practical joke 
and was guilty of many. He was so independent in his 
manners that the nobles who patronized him regarded 
him as a freak and refused to be insulted. Truthful, 
yet ironical, he presented so many strange contrasts 
that he was always in the public eye. His greatest love 
was for nature and his daily walks in the woods and 
* fields inspired many of his works. 


BEETHOVEN’S DEAFNESS. 

Picture the greatest musician of his time at the 
zenith of his career, afflicted with the direst calamity 
that could affect a tone-poet and we see the tragic spec- 
tacle of Beethoven awaiting the deafness that he knew 
would seal the music of the world forever from him. 
Despite the fact that he had a piano made with additional 
strings to reinforce the tone he could hear so little that 
it was painful to watch the great Titan of music play. 
In a letter to his brother (1802), which he requested 
to be opened after his death, the master told of his 
woes. This letter came to be known as Beethoven’s 
will. One strikingly pathetic passage is, “Joyfully I 
hasten to meet death. Should he come before I have 
the opportunity of developing the whole of my artistic 
capacity he will come too soon in spite of my hard 
fate.” 


HOW BEETHOVEN DIED. 

“Plaudite amici, comoedia finita est,” said Beethoven 
over and over again during the last few days. What 
clearer indication can we have of his intensely dramatic 
nature, “Applaud, my friends, the comedy is ended.” 
Suffering greatest agony from dropsy, planning works 
he knew that he would never finish, fighting Fate with 
a broken sword, Beethoven passed away during a ter- 
rific storm of snow, hail and lightning, March 26, 1827. 
Out of the clouds came a thunderclap which terrified 
all those at his bedside. The unconscious man awoke, 
shook his clenched fist at the elements and then sank 
into his immortal sleep. What a divine climax for 
such a life. Schubert had called during the last days, 
but Beethoven was too far gone to do much more than 
recognize him. 

The Requiems of Mozart and Cherubini were 
cnanted for the repose of his soul. The actor An- 
schutz, who was to read the funeral oration written 
by the playwright Grillparzer, was halted at the 
cemetery gates, since no 
actor could at that time 
ste€p upon consecrated 
ground. It is estimated 
that at least twenty thou- 
sand people attended the 
funeral of Beethoven. 


BEETHOVEN ASA 
PERFORMER. 

Carl Czerny, one of 
Beethoven’s pupils, de- 

- clared that “his playing of 
the slow movements is 
full of the greatest expres- 
sion,’ while the pianist 
Tomascheck said, “His 
grand style of playing, es- 
pecially his bold improvi- 
zation had an _ extraor- 
dinary effect upon me; I 
feit so shaken that for several days I could not bring my- 
self to touch the piano.” Sir George Grove, who received 
his information from those who had heard Beethoven, 
also speaks of “the loftiness and elevation of his style 
and his great power of expression in slow movements, 
which, when exercised upon his own music, fixed his 
hearers and made them insensible to any fault of polish 
and mere mechanism.” Little wonder that Beethoven 


BEETH OVEN’S GRAVE IN 
VIENNA. 


was called the “giant of players” by his contemporaries, 
and the “god among players” by his biographers. He 
approached the piano in a spirit of play, often striking 
it with the palm of his hand and rubbing his fingers 
over the keys as a master would caress an animal. 
Applause was met with a grimace or even rude remarks. 


BEETHOVEN AS A CONDUCTOR. 


Beethoven, we are told by thoughtful critics, was 100 
impulsive to make a good conductor even of his own 
works. As he grew deaf it became exceedingly difficult 
for the players to follow him. He endeavored to sug- 
gest his wishes by the contortions of his body. In 
diminuendo passages he would shrink until his body 
almost disappeared behind the conductor’s stand. In a 
loud passage he once became so demonstrative that he 
knocked the lamps off the music rack. 


BEETHOVEN AS A TEACHER. 


Whatever may be said of Beethoven’s irregularities 
as a teacher, the fact that he was the teacher of Carl 
Czerny and Ferdinand Ries, and that they were ex- 
ceedingly enthusiastic about him, remains as permanent 
evidence of his ability, “when he wanted to teach.” By 
others we are told that he had an aversion to the en- 
forced performance of regular duties, especially in 
giving lessons. He feared no one, and even rapped the 
knuckles of the Archduke Rudolph, when the fatter 
fingered badly. 


BEETHOVEN’S FRIENDS. 


The friends of the great musical creator were strangely 
chosen—one moment plebeian, another aristocratic. In Bonn, 
members of the Breuning family assisted him in his early 


BEETHOVEN PLAYING FOR HIS FRIENDS, 


struggles, and gave him that indispensable environment of 
culture whick his own home denied to bim. Eleanor yon 
Breuning not only knit comforters and made waistcoats for 
him but inspired him to nobler ideals of life. Beethoven 
admired many women from Babette Koch, the daughter of 
an inn keeper, to queens and empresses. In turn he was 
admired by them, but no scandal of any kind attached it- 
self to his name. His letters, written in such an execrable 
hand that they were often refused at the post office, burned 
with effusive messages of emotion. Yet, Beethoven never 
married. Three wonderful love letters found in Beetboven’s 
desk after his death reveal that he was engaged at one 
time to the Countess Theresa yon Brunswick, whom he 
called his ‘“‘eternal beloved’ (‘“unsterbliche Geliebte’’). 
Owing to the patronage of several noblemen, Beethoven 
was relieved of much of the financial anxiety which ham- 
pered many of the composers of the past. Among the most 
notable of these were the princes Rudolph, Lobkowitz, Kin- 
Sky, Galitzin, Lichnowsky, Rasoumowsky and others. Lob- 
kowitz, Rudolph and Kinsky provided an annuity amounting 
to four thousand florins, which, though affected by the fluctu- 
ating currency of the times, was a great help to Beethoven. 
Among many who might be classed as friends of Beethoven 
were Sir Julius Benedict, Maxmiliana Brentano, George 
Bridgetower (a negro violin virtuoso’ who played the Kreut- 
zer Sonata with Beethoven,and later secured the degree 
of Mus. Bac. at Cambridge). Count von Brown, Count von 
Brunswick, Czerny, Grillparzer, Gyrowetz, Hummel, Hiitten- 
brunner, Kreutzer, Kuhlau, Maelzel, Moscheles, Schubert, Rode 
and many others whose names may be found in the dedi- 
cations of his pieces. Anton Schindler deserves special 
mention, since he became a veritable slave to Beethoven, 
taking his abuse with patience and forgiveness. * 


BEETHOVEN’S COMPOSITIONS. 


The writer, von Lenz, divided Beethoven's life into three 
creative periods, and this classification has been widely ac- 
cepted. These divisions are chronologically, 1700 to 1800, 
1800 to 1815 and 1815 to 1827. Many of Beethoven’s most 
famous works are classed in the second period although 
his life was being continually embittered by his great afflic- 
tion. The best-known catalogue of the master’s works con- 
tains 256 list numbers and about thirty unclassified com- 
positions. Several of these works are composed of many 
separate numbers as in the case of the Twenty-five Irish 
Songs, No. 223, It will thus be seen that bis separate com- 


10 


positions actually number more than twice the figure rep- 
resented by their opus numbers. 

Beethoven’s one opera Fidelio was first produced in 1805, 
and is still played in some of our great opera houses. Tw= 
masses (C and D) his Mount of Olives and the cantata 
The Glorious Moment are his principal contributions to 
choral music, although the Symphony Number Nine contains 
a choral setting of Schiller’s An die Freude. 

Of the nine incompara- 
ble Beethoven symplonies 
the most popular are: 
Number Three, The Broica 


in E flat. Originally dedi- 
cated to Napoleon. When 
in 1805 Napoleon aban- 


doned his republican doc- 
trines and became Hmperor 
of France Beethoven de- 
stroyed the dedication ; 
Number Five in C Minor; 
Number Six, The Pastoral 
in F; and Number Nine, 
The Choral in D minor. 
The Battle of Vittoria 
written for Maelzel, the 
inventor of the Metronome, 
might also be called a sym- 
phony despite the mercen- 
ary motives said to have 
inspired this piece. Of the 
nine overtures the Leon- 
ora 1, 2 and 3 and the Fidelio, are the most frequently 
heard. The music to Hymont and Prometheus is dramatic 
and powerful. The violin concerto, Opus 61, is one of the 
greatest compositions in the literature of the instrument. 
The most famous of the five piano concertos is the fifth 
in E flat, The Emperor. There are ten sonatas for violin 
and pianoforte (The Kreutzer is Opus 47 in A), five son- 
atas for ‘cello and pianoforte and thirty-eight sonatas for 
pianoforte solo. In addition to these he wrote 21 sets of 
variations for pianoforte and numerous smaller pieces. His 
chamber music includes 16 string quartets, five string trios, 
eight pianoforte trios, two quintets for strings, two octets 
and one sextet for wind, one septet and one sextet for 
strings and wind. No list less than an actual catalogue~ 
can define his complete works. The Grove Dictionary de- 
votes eight pages of fine type to this list. 


BRUNSWICK. 


THERESA VON 


FAMOUS BEETHOVEN SAYINGS. 


“Art, who can say that he fathoms it? Who is 
there capable of discussing the nature of this great 
goddess?” 

“It is art and science alone that reveal to us and 
give us the hope of a loftier life.” 

“Art is a bond that unites all the world; how 
much closer is this bond between true artists?” 

“Liberty and progress are great conditions in the 
empire of music as in the universe.” 


A BEETHOVEN PROGRAM. 


(Suitable for the Average Club Meeting.) 
Grading 1 to 10. 
1. PIANO DueEv.Allegretto from Seventh Symphony, Grade 
2. WOCAUisc >.< ic seattle Know’st Thou the Land, Grade 
3. PIANO SOLO 
Sonata, Opus 10, No. 2, First Movement. ..Grade 
4. VIOLIN SOLO..Adagio Cantabile, from Sonata, 
Opus 30, No. 2, Grade 
5. PIANO SoLo. .Sonata, Opus 27, No. 2 (Moonlight), 
First and Second Movements, Grade 
6. MIXED VoIcEsS..Come, Ye Disconsolate.  Ar- 
ranged by W. Dressler, Grade 


ono Nn A wk 


1. Pano Durtr....Menuetto from Septet, Opus 20, Grade 3 
2. VocaL SOLo....Faithful Johnnie, Violin and 
*Cello Obbliygato, Grade 3 
3. PIANO SOLO. .Funeral March from Sonata, 
Opus 26, Grade 6 
4. VIOLIN SoLo..Adelaide (vocal part played as 
violin solo to regular accompaniment, 
unless some one capable of singing this 
song may be secwred) 
5. P1ANO Souo..Andante Célébre from Sonata, 
Opus 14, No, 2, Grade 5 
6. PIANO Durr..Turkish March from Ruins of 
>» Athens, Grade 3 
The experienced teacher may easily arrange a program 
of Beethoven’s more advanced works if the material is at 
hand to give them the proper interpretation, 


Grade 5 


BOOKS UPON BEETHOVEN. 


Beethoven, by Crowest ; Beethoven, by Wischer ; Beethoven, 
by H. A. Rudall. Beethoven, a Bioyraphical Romance, by 
Rau. Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies, by Sir George 
Grove ; Beethoven, Depicted 
by his Contemporaries, by 
Ludwig Nohl. Life of Bee- 
thoven, by A. Schindler. 
The most famous book of all 
is “Beethoven’s Leben” in 
three volumes (German), by 
the American, Alexander W. 
Thayer. 


QUESTIONS. 


1. How did the social at- 
titude of Beethoven differ 
from that of Haydn and 
Mozart. 

2. What was the nature 
of the home surroundings in 
Beethoven’s childhood? 

3. Who were Beethoven's 
first teachers? 

4. What great masters be- 
came Beetnoyven's teachers in 
later life? 

5. What were the main 
characteristics of Beethoven's 
piano playing? 

6. Was Beethoven an able conductor ? 

7. Had Beethoven any pupils who became famous ? 

8. Describe Beethoven’s appearance. 

9. Tell something of Beethoven’s great affliction. 

10, Name five of the most important Beethoven composi- 
tions. 


“lk Bille 
BEETHOVEN’S PIANO 


TM MM 


~ — 


AIIM 


THE PERIOD OF BERLIOZ. 


BeERLIOZ came into the world just as the French 
democracy, that allowed Robespierre to barter his 
insatiable ambition for his life, was merging into 
the Empire which was to offer Napoleon a sim- 
ilar tragic opportunity. In 1804 “the little corpo- 
ral” importunately snatched the crown from the hands 
of Pope Pius VII and: placing it upon his own head 
with his own hands declared himself Emperor of 
France. During the childhood and youth of Berlioz he 
saw upon all sides the significant “N” of Bonaparte. 
France was ascending to new power and new glory. 
Berlioz was all patriot. He loved his France and par- 
ticularly his Paris. Mercurial at all times, his dispo- 
sition and life experiences were not unlike the fortunes 
of his native land. During his entire life the French 
people seemed to be struggling for republican freedom 
—a freedom, which did not arrive in anything like a 
permanent form until the year after the death of 
Berlioz. 


BERLIOZ’S ANCESTRY AND YOUTH. 


Hector Berlioz (pronounced Bair-lee-ohs) was born 
at La Cote St. André, near Grenoble, on Dec. 11th, 1803. 
His father was a country physician who was determined 
to have his son become a great surgeon: In the home 
every possible attempt was made to suppress the boy’s 
very manifest love for music. Berlioz had the great- 
est imaginable disgust for the horrors of the dissecting 
room, and whenever his father urged him to become 
a medical student he rebelled. Consequently when he 
went to Paris in 1822, for the purpose of entering the 
medical school, he found the Conservatoire far more 
inviting and spent most of his time in the pursuit of 
musical education. This resulted in a long domestic 
war between the parents and the talented son. 


BERLIOZ’S PRIVATIONS. 


Regarding his attendance at the Conservatoire as open 
disobedience, his remittances from home were discon- 
tinued and Berlioz suffered the direst poverty in his 
efforts to secure a musical education. In his auto- 
biography he tells how he was obliged to take a chorus 
position in a minor theatre to get the bare necessities 
of life. There is an element of the tragedy in the 
case of this young man with great musical talents and 
ambitions, denied all through his youth the technical 
training which might have affected his entire career 
as a composer. 

In his earlier years Berlioz had learned to sing at 
sight, play the guitar and flute fairly well, but he never 
mastered the pianoforte or the violin instruments which 
have proved so indispensable to other composers. 
Singularly enough, with this meagre executive ability 
he became the greatest authority upon instrumentation 
of his time. His discoveries in the realm of orchestra- 
tion were so striking that he revolutionized many 
phases of the art. 

Shut off from assistance at home, Berlioz was more 
determined than ever to become a great master. Ac- 
cordingly he secured the interest of Jean Francois 
Lesueur, who became his teacher of composition. 
Lesueur, now forgotten, was one of the foremost musi- 
cians of Paris in the early years of the last century. 
As Master of the Chapel at Notre Dame and later for 
Napoleon he gained wide influence. He took a great 
interest in Berlioz and in a very few months we find 
our young musician writing a Mass for one of the 
Parisian churches. 


AT THE CONSERVATOIRE. 


Berlioz had some difficulty in securing admission to the 
French Conservatoire. As in the case of many another 
genius trying to secure a position in an institution conducted 
along conventional lines his talent was altogether ignored 
in face of his technical short-comings, Cherubini was then 


cA AAAS 


Hector Berlioz 


~ me OE 4 E- 
SSS 
UOT hee TO TTT? 


1803—The Real Berlioz—1869 


“Paris, Paris, Let Parts Hear of My Triumphs.” 


the director. Although Beethoven looked upon Cherubini as 
one of the foremost musicians of the time and Berlioz made 
a veritable god of Beethoven, there was little friendship be- 
tween the director and the student. During the seven years, 
which Berlioz spent at the Conservatoire, he was in a con- 
stant state of turmoil. The student was a romanticist to 
the core while his teachers took a pride in being as academic 
as possible. They took it upon themselves to build a barrier 
of rules around each student and called that barrier educa- 
tion. Berlioz was regarded as a kind of musical anarchist 
to be repressed rather than encouraged. 


THE PRIX DE ROME, 


Finally, after many failures, due partly to his own 
technical deficiencies and again to the political maneu- 
verings of his enemies in the Conservatoire, Berlioz 
succeeded in winning the much coveted Prix de Rome 
with a cantata La Mort de Sardanapale. This: entitled 


him to two years in Rome and one year in travel in 


THE BIRTHPLACE OF BERLIOZ, 


11 


HAMHAUORAUEQDROEOUTUDORGNOOOREGRENLOG 


; 


TS se 


ae 


— 


ee tere 


other continental countries. Berlioz was no 
sooner away from his Paris than he longed to 
return, and with the consent of the ininistry 
back he journeyed in 1832. He had already 
written two of his well known works, King Lear 
and Symphonic Fantastique. 


A ROMANTIC MARRIAGE. 


In his entertaining autobiography there is no part 
as interesting as that in which he describes his court- 
ship and marriage with the Irish actress, Henrietta 
Smithson (1833). She was the rage of Paris in her 
day and Berlioz, who had developed a great fondness 
for everything Shakespearean, saw in Henrietta Smith- 
son the actualization of one of his ideals. Berlioz, 
however, was in love with Juliet and Rosalind rather 
than with the one who portrayed them. Later in life 
his actress wife fell so far below his ideals that a 
separation became inevitable. z 

Berlioz’s marriage was undertaken at a time when he 
had little prospect of future income. In fact after 
the birth of his son he was obliged to devote so 
much time to writing newspaper criticisms that only 
a little time could be devoted to the actual work of 
composition. He had been turned down at the Con- 
servatoire where he had applied for a position as 
teacher of harmony. Cherubini would have none of 
such a revolutionist. Had it not been for his ability 
as a feuilletonist he and his family might have starved. 


HIS REMARKABLE PRODUCTIVITY. 


Berlioz was a very rapid writer. Many of his critics 
contend that if he had written a little slower and taken 
more pains with his work he might have produced 
compositions of higher consequence, but Berlioz was 
a rhapsodist and wrote as he improvised. In fact 
in order to get his ideas down quick enough he was 
obliged to invent a kind of short hand notation. Dur- 
ing the years immediately following his marriage he 
wrote the three symphonies. Symphonie Funcbre et 
Triomphale, Harold in Italy and Romeo and Juliette, 
a cantata on the death of Napoleon; the opera, Ben- 
venuto Cellini, the Requiem, and other works of small- 
er dimensions. Gradually his works became more an1 
more popular and some financial return was received. 
This, however, came in the form of awards and 
gratuities rather than earnings. The French Govern- 
ment, for instance, paid him 4,000 francs for his 


- Requiem and the violinist, Paganini, presented him with 


20,000 francs for his Harold en Italie. Through this 
and other sources of income he was enabled to make a 
long-coveted. trip through Germany. Liszt and Schu- 
mann had championed his cause so well that he was 
enthusiastically received everywhere. In fact his tour 
has been compared to a triumphal march and was quite 
different from the critical drubbing which the German 
composer, Richard Wagner, was then receiving in Paris. 
During the next few years he made tours in Austria 
and Russia, returning to Paris to produce his La Dam- 
nation de. Faust. This work did not win anythine more 
than very slight approval at the outstart. During the 
entire time Berlioz was abroad he strove to win popular 
favor in Paris by sending back bulletins of his great 
successes in foreign countries, but Paris was apathetic, 
and the more Berlioz knocked at her doors the sounder 
was her sleep. His next foreign ventures took him to 
England, whither he went four times between the years 
1848 and 1855, meeting with success as a conductor. 


SLIGHT RECOGNITION AT LAST. 


In 1856 France began to show her appreciation of 
Berlioz by making him an Academician and later the 
Librarian of the Conservatoire. In 1854 Berlioz’s first 
wife died, and after a very short time we find him mar- 


NN 


ried again to a singer with very slender gifts, Mlle. 
Martin Recio. Despite the fact that she insisted upon 
taking the leading réle in the performances of her hus- 
band’s works—often with disastrous results—he was 
greatly devoted to her. 

Berlioz was profoundly affected by her death in 1862. 
He became still more disconsolate when the work upon 
which he spent the best labors of his life, Les Troyens, 
a grand opera in two parts (I. La Prise de Troie. II. 
Les Troyens a@ Carthage) failed after a very few per- 
formances (Paris, 1863). Not even the success of his 
little opera, Béatrice et Bénédict, performed with much 
favor at Baden in Germany, could revive his inspira- 
tion. Les Troyens was his last work of consequence, 
and its failure worried the composer so that a rapid de- 
cline of his health followed. 


THE DEATH OF BERLIOZ. 


It has been said that it is a failing with the 
French to show their appreciation after death, but that 
after all is a common failing of all peoples. Berlioz 
died in Paris on March 3rd, 1869, and received a most 
pompous funeral. Ten years later all Paris turned 
out to an immense concert of his works given in the 
Hippodrome in commemoration of his death. Busts, 
statues, and all of the other pitiful means of petrifying 
his memory may be found around the great city that 
so long permitted him to starve in neglect. 


BERLIOZ AS A CONDUCTOR. 


Much more might be said of Berlioz as a conductor 
than of Berlioz as a composer. He gloried in huge 
orchestras and once had one so large that it was 
necessary for him to have electrically operated metro- 
nomes stationed in different parts of the orchestra 
so that by controlling the beat from the conductor’s 
desk he might be sure of maintaining the tempo. In 
prescribing the instruments for his ideal festival or- 
chestra he calls for the following: 120 violins, 40 
violas, 45 ’cellos, 18 three-stringed basses, 15 four- 
stringed basses, 4 octo-basses, 6 large flutes, 4 third 
flutes, 2 piccolos, 2 piccolos in D flat, 6 oboes, 6 corni 
inglesi, 5 saxophones, 4 tenoroons, 12 bassoons, 4 
clarinets in E flat, 8 ordinary clarinets, 3 bass clari- 
nets, 16 horns, 8 trumpets, 6 cornets a piston, 12 trom- 
bones, 3 ophicleides, 2 bass tubas, 30 harps, 30 piano- 
fortes, 1 organ, 8 pairs of kettle drums, 6 drums, 
3 long drums, four pairs of cymbals, 6 triangles, 6 
sets of bells, 12 pairs of antique cymbals, 2 very low 
great bells, 2 gongs, 4 Turkish crescents—460 pieces 
in all. Surely the modern claims of Richard Strauss 
are modest in the extreme. 


BERLIOZ AS A COMPOSER. 


The work of Berlioz has been variously estimated 
by different critics. His greatest service to music was 


unquestionably his work in orchestration, where he 
was at once bold, artistic and ingenious. Those who 
place a low valuation upon his gifts as a composer do 
not hesitate to say that he provided the basis for much 
of our latter day orchestral treatment. His sense of 
color was extraordinary and in a way glossed over 
his technical deficiencies in composition and his lacix 
of melodic inventiveness. While many of the melo- 
dies of Wagner became the common property of the 
masses, it is difficult to point to a single theme ot 
Berlioz outside of the Kakoczy March which has been 
adopted by the public as its own, and the Rakoczy 
March is in fact a Hungarian inspiration. The Ra- 
kocsy March was so named because at first it was a 
lament for one of the great Hungarian heroes, Ra- 


koczy. Originally it was a slow and solemn tune played 
upon an instrument (the tdrogaté) resembling the 
oboe. It first appeared about two hundred years ago, 


but in the early part of the last century the same 
theme occurs as a march. Berlioz seized upon the 
theme and introduced it in his Damnation de Faust. 
The march then became the craze of Europe and 
Berlioz was given the credit of having been the com- 
poser. In justice to him it should be said that had 
it not been for his highly colored and skillful or- 
chestration the famous tune might never have become 
so popular. In his autobiography Berlioz gives vivid 
pictures of the uproarious enthusiasm with which the 
march was received. 

This does not mean that the music of Berlioz does 
not contain moments of greatness, but his lack of 
the substantial characteristics which have made the 
fame of such masters as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, 
Franck and others permanent, must always dim the 
reputation of Berlioz. What Berlioz might have been 
had he had the right technical training early in life 
must always be one of those discomforting problems 
which baffle solution. 


BERLIOZ AS A WRITER. 


We are tempted to say that no more fascinating book has 
ever been written by a great composer than Berlioz’s Auto- 
biography. His delineation of his own desires, mental atti- 
tudes and emotions is so remarkable that it has the charm, 
of a Thackaray, a Heyse and a Maupassant combined. It is 
one of the most interesting narratives of its kind. All 
through the work one is convinced that Berlioz is writing 
about the man he would like to be rather than the man he 
really is, but in this very angle of treatment we have re- 
vealed to us one of the intimate views of the composer’s 
character. Berlioz was in many ways a poscur. His appe- 
tite for renown amounted to an obsession hardly excelled by 
that of Wagner who, after all, could forget himself in his 
work. Nine volumes of the writings of Berlioz have been 
published, but the most interesting by far is the Autobi- 
ee Ae which reads from cover to cover like a fascinating 
novel, 


His attitude toward other composers was unique. He 
placed little value upon Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Bach 
or Handel. In many cases nis investigations had been so 
superficial that he was hardly qualified to judge. Of Bee- 
thoven, Weber and Gluck he could hardly say enough. 

His radical position in musical art made him the subject 
of much caricature, as well as invective. His replies were 
witty and sharp and he never seemed to lack ammunition, 
to fire back at his enemies. 


DIFFICULTY IN ARRANGING A BERLIOZ PROGRAM, 


It is a comparatively simple matter to arrange a 
program of the works of Richard Wagner which may 
be played in the parlor or the studio, although Wagner 
wrote but little outside of his huge music dramas. 
With Berlioz, however, the case is quite different. 
Without the color and fascination of the orchestra 
most of his works seem to be lacking in that broad 
human interest which would make them suitable for 
the ordinary recital or club program. In addition to 
this practically everything which might be adapted to a 
Berlioz program is either difficult or awkward for the 
performer. The Trdaumerei and Caprice for Violin, 
Opus 8, is about grade seven and is one of the most 
attractive recital numbers written by Berlioz. The 
Rakoczy March comes in various grades of difficulty 
and is almost always effective. The Gnomenchor und 
Sylphentane from the Damnation of Faust comes in 
a splendid arrangement by Carl Tausig, of which a 
new edition has heen made by Xaver Scharwenka. 
This, however, is suited only to the concert pianist. 
The Serenade of Mephistophele has been arranged for 
piano by Dr. William Mason. This arrangement, 
while not particularly difficult, is not especially effective. 
The Villanelle from Summer Nights is a really ex- 
cellent song from the musical standpoint, although dif- 
ficult for the singer, owing to the incessant high range. 


12 


Berlioz’s best song La Captive, one of his mastef- 
pieces, calls for a voice of large range and power. It 
is a concert song in the bigger sense of the term. The 
student should remember, however, that most all of 
Berlioz’s orchestral works are wonderfully effective. 
rich, and brilliant when heard on the orchestra. In 
fact, there is no department of musical composition 
that was not quickened by the efforts of this remark- 
ably active man. Ernest Newman, the well known 
English critic, has shown how Berlioz brought new 
life to the Opera, the Symphony and the orchestra 
itself. It is hardly advisable to attempt a Berlioz pro- 
gram without elaborate resources. 


BERLIOZ’S SHORTCOMINGS. 


One of the best estimates of Berlioz’s shortcomings 
may be found in the biography of W. H. Hadow, Esq, 
used in the Grove Dictionary. Mr. Hadow writes: 
“There is, indeed, a singular perversity in Berlioz’s 
music, due partly to a twist in his disposition, partly to 
deficiency of early training. He had, for example, a 
spring of pure and beautiful melody, and in La Captive 
in the love scene from Romeo, in the great septet from 


Les Troyens, he showed that he could employ it to 
noble purpose. Yet, time after time he ruins his cause 
by subordinating beauty to emphasis, and is so anxious 
to impress that he forgets how to charm. The Even- 
ing Song in Faust is spoiled by the very cadences that 
were intended to make it effective. The beginning of 
the Pilgrim’s March in Harold is delightful, but the 
last strain offends like a misplaced epigram. No doubt 
there are other artists who have yielded to similar 
temptation. Chopin used often to end his dreamiest 
improvisations with an unexpected discord. Heine 
often closes with a freakish jest, a song full of pathos 
or romance. But these men did it out of sheer mis- 
chief. Berlioz did it because it seemed to him the nat- 
ural outcome of his thought. 


TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. State the nature of the French Government dur- 
ing the early years of Berlioz’s life. 


2. What assistance did Berlioz receive from his 
family? 

3. What instruments did Berlioz play? 
. Who was Berlioz’s principal teacher? 
How long was Berlioz at the Conservatoire? 
Tell something of Berlioz’s romantic marriage. 
Describe Berlioz’s remarkable productivity. 
How did France recognize Berlioz. 


ON Ams 


9. State Berlioz’s rank as a conductor and as a com- 
poser. 

10. Why is it impracticable to give short programs of 
his compositions apart from the orchestra? 


BERLIOZ IN HIS PRIME. 


Py 


TUTTO 


MUM 


UR GRUUATGRUD RO RUERORAETAUUETANLE 


=A 


ese 


faq 


\ 


BRAHMS’ PERIOD. 


Tue Germany of to-day is a strong fed- 
eration of German states under the imperial 


dominion of the Kaiser. One hundred years 
ago Germany was no more or less than that 
section of Europe tenanted by people of the 
German race, divided into small kingdoms and 
principalities, of which Austria was always considered 
a part. It had suffered from the terrific blows that 
Napoleon delivered to his enemies and was staggering 
along under the influence of the reactionary Austrian 
minister Metternich, who was so suspicious that he even 
prevented musical festivals with the fear that they 
might be revolutionary gatherings. The political 
renaissance of Germany really began with the entrance 
of that master of diplomacy, Otto von Bismarck. 
When Brahms was born Bismarck was at the begin- 
ning of his iron career. Under the great Chancellor, 
Prussia became the force which resulted in the German 
Empire in 1871. All these things occurred during the 
life of Brahms, and it is not difficult to believe that 
much of the great power which marks his works came 
from the dynamic political atmosphere of his time, an 
atmosphere also capable of influencing a totally dif- 
ferent type of composer such as Brahms’ great contem- 
porary, Richard Wagner. 


BRAHMS’ ANCESTRY. 


Brahms’ family name appears in some forms as Brahmst. 
At least it may be so found upon the program of a concert 
given in 1849. The master’s father was an able but little 
known musician, Johann Brahms. He played the viola, 
violin, ‘cello, flute, horn and contra-bass. Here and there 
he managed to pick up an odd job in addition to his regular 
work as a performer on the double bass at the theatre and 
in the Philharmonic concerts, and as a member of the town 
military band, Despite his versatility and ab litv, Brahms’ 
father was so poor that he was ‘not above ‘passing the hat” 
when he played in summer gardens. Brahms’ mother was 
delicate, ordinary, and it is said walked with a conspicuous 


limp. She was seventeen years older than her husband. 
History records little of her other than that she was affec- 
tionate, blue-eyed, pious and entitled to that greatest 


German distinction of feminine virtue, tuchtige hausefrau 


(tidy housewife). 


BRAHMS’ BIRTHPLACE. 


As you look upon the ramshackle building in which 
Brahms was born, it should be remembered that, l’ke so 
many other German edifices of the kind, it was a Wohnung 
or a tenement. The Brahms family occupied only a few 
rooms, and their home was very close indeed to abject 
poverty. This ‘home’ was located on a dismal little Jane 
in the city of Hamburg. Brahms was born there Tuesday, 
May 7th, 1883. His mother was then forty-four years 
old. His father twenty-seven. 


BRAHMS’ EARLY TRAINING. 

Brahms’ first teacher was a pianist named Cossel, 
who gave the boy his first lessons when he was seven 
years old. At ten he was so advanced that he played 
a study by Herz at a Charity concert. During the 
same year his self-sacrificing teacher, realizing what 
splendid talent the boy had, took him to the nearby 
city of Altona to Marx- 
sen, who had been Cos- 
sel’s own teacher in the 
past. Brahms played for 
the old master and was 
assured that he had bet- 
ter continue under Cos- 
sel. However, his father’s 
friends were not satis- 
fied and a concert was 
given in the Bier Halle 
“Zum Alten Rabe,’ the 
proceeds of which were 
to be applied to the edu- 
cation of the young mu- 
sician. With the req- 
uisite funds in hand 
Marxsen was approached 
again and consented to 
accept the boy as a pupil 
for one lesson a week, 


BRAHMS AND JOACHIM AT 
THEIR FIRST MEETING. 


SAMA A 


Johannes Brahm 


— 


— \ > 
TOT TTT 


I 


ty 


“Blessed is he, who without hate shuts lwumself from 
the world,’—GoETHE. 


but stipulating that he should also take two lessons a 
week from Marxsen’s former pupil Cossel. Finally 
Marxsen took the boy under his care, teaching him 
without compensation. The world owes a great debt 
to Cossel since it was only through his magnificent 
self-sacrifice that this was brought about, and through 
his persistence that the parents of the boy were pre- 
vented from sending him upon a tour as a prodigy, 
which might have proved ruinous. 

Marxsen was a thorough musician who had had an 
excellent training in Vienna. He took an unusual in- 
terest in the boy and saw to it that his general educa- 
tion in the regular school work was not neglected. He 
obliged him to transpose long pieces of music at sight. 

At the age of fourteen Brahms gave his first concert, 
playing the following program: 


PADUGTO iO gl MOMO Ongar ecineacls sete rare RoSENHAIN 
Rantasie om Walliams Gell. csecemen sense DOoHLER 
SAAC oe (eas UOliGhee Sa aendeodoccaaeanes o MarxXSEN 
ITCH IS er ila, OSB OES RAO DOS O00 OK ob oan Aamo oe HERz 
UOTO GRR OCA Maem TEP A OS 0 86. OUP OCEANS JS. BAcE 
Variations on a Volkslied.......... JoHANNeEs BRAHMS 


In 1853 Brahms went upon a tour with the Hungarian 
violinist, Eduard Remenyi, a great relief from his 
previous years of musical hackdom, teaching at the 
rate of twenty-five cents a lesson and playing in 
lokals (cafes). Remenyi introduced Brahms to 
Joachim, who recognized his great talent. Joachim in 
turn introduced the young composer to Liszt and to 
Schumann, Schumann was immensely impressed with 
his works and wrote an article lauding Brahms in the 


“Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik,’ entitled Newe Bahnen 


(New Roads). During ithe four years, 1854-1858. 
Brahms was Court Music Director for the Prince 
Lippe-Detmold. In 1862 Brahms went to Vienna to be 
near his friend, Theodor Kirchner. In the Austrian 
musical capital he was honored with the post of Direc- 
tor of the Sing Akademie, and later with that conduc- 
tor of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. \*rom 1864 
to 1869 he spent part of his time in Hamburg, Zurich, 
Baden-Baden and other cities, but Vienna became his 
ultimate home. He made numerous tours as a pianist, 
but his playing was for the most part too serious in 
character to win him the great enthusiasm that the 
virtuoso expects from the public. His life was marked 
by his natural distaste for notoriety and the turmoil 
of the world. He ignored the degree of Doctor of 
Music when it was offered to him by Cambridge 


13 


IN 
MTT MTT 


< 


University (1877), but accepted that of Ph.D 
from Breslau University (1881.) In 1886 he was 
Knighted by Prussia (Order of Merit). He was 
the polar antithesis of Richard Wagner, to whom 
tranquility was a welcome but an unattainable 
attribute. The difference between Brahms and 
Wagner was the difference between the silent 
majesty of peace and the glorious clamor of war. Yet 
Wagner unquestionably placed himself and his music 
in more definite contact with the human needs of his 
time than did the ascetic Brahms, working in art prin- 
ciples often far to complicated for those of more frail 
intellects to comprehend. 


BRAHMS’ PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Brahms’ appearance was impressive despite the fact 
that his head was abnormally large and his body small 
and stocky. His complexion was ruddy, his eyes blue 
and penetrating, and his hair slightly gray in his ad- 
vanced years. The fact that his name appeared on 
several church registers and that similar names of 
other branches of the same family have been found in 
records of different churches apparently contradicts 
the assertion that he was of Jewish ancestry. 

Brahms was inordinately fond of walking, particu- 
larly walking in the country, after the manner of Bee- 
thoven. He rarely missed a day without a stroll of 
some length. Mountain climbing was another of his 
favorite pastimes. As he grow more fleshy in his later 
years he found climbing difficult and would often stop 
his friend to see some remarkable view when he was 
really “out of breath’ and unable to go further. He 
was so fond of the open air that he always made it a 
point to dine in the garden when the weather permitted. 

Brahms was somewhat careless in his dress, and for 
this reason avoided any form of society where he 
might be obliged to abandon his free attire, often 
accented by a picturesque loose flannel shirt without a 
tie of any kind and a broad brimmed soft hat, which 
he wore in his hand rather than upon his head. In- 
deed, he is said io have avoided a trip to England 
to accept the proffered degree of Doctor of Music 
from Cambridge University, because he feared he would 
be obliged to wear a dress suit. Indeed, he was one 
of the most striking figures of the Vienna of his day. 
He would often appear with a somewhat dingy, 
brownish-gray shawl thrown over his shoulders and 
clasped in front with an ordinary pin. Brahms was 
naturally retiring and was fond of quoting Goethe’s 
line, ‘Blessed is he who without hate, shuts himself 
from the world.” 

Although Brahms avoided notoriety he had many 
friends and enjoyed a controversy above all things. In 
his youth he had a tendency to be brusque and sar- 
castic, but with later years this irrascability was soft- 
ened by good humor. Brahms was a man of wide 
interests. He was keenly alive to the great innovations 
of the nineteenth century, the telephone, the telegraph 
and the phonograph. Brahms was kindly to his servants 
and such a lover of children that he often permitted 
them to impose upon him. Once he was seen on all 
fours playing horse for 
a small boy who, whip 
in hand, sat astride the 
master’s back. Yet, like 
Beethoven, he never mar- 
ried. He disliked cere- 
mony of any kind and es- 
caped it whenever pos- 
sible. 

BRAHMS AS A PIANIST. 


A casual examination 
of Brahms’ pianoforte 
compositions reveals at 
once that he employed 
chords that ofttimes seem 
so remote from the con- 
ventional chord masses 
utilized by the average 
composer that the piano 


BRAHMS WHEN A CHILD. 


student finds new and often very complicated ar- 
rangement of the keys, demanding significant exten- 
sions of his technic. It was known that Brahms de- 
tested the conventional, and even in his simplest com- 
positions sought a characteristic and distinctly different 
atmosphere. This, perhaps, gives us a better insight to 
his methods of playing than do the varying accounts ot 
his performances. In any event Brahms could never 
be called a virtuoso in the sense that we apply the term 
to Liszt, Rubinstein, Paderewski, or even Chopin. 
Joachim said of his playing when Brahms was a very 
young man, “His piano playing was so tender, so full 
of fancy, so free, so firey, that it held me enthralled.” 
Clara Schumann, whom Brahms worshipped almost as 
a foster-mother, was not so deeply impressed. Yet 
once, when Brahms was playing alone at the Schu- 
mann’s, Clara, who was in another room, exclaimed, 
“Who are those people in there playing duets!” 


BRAHMS’ AS A TEACHER OF THE PIANOFORTE, 


One of Brahms’ pupils, Florence May, has written 
the most comprehensive life of the master. In it she 
describes his teaching in a manner that no teacher 
may read without profit. 

“Brahms united in himself each and every quality 
that might be supposed to exist in an ideal teacher of 
the pianoforte, without having a single modifying 
drawback. He was strict and absolute; he was gentle 
and patient and encouraging; he was not only clear, 
he was light itself; he knew exhaustively, and could 
teach and did teach, by the shortest possible methods. 
every de‘ail of technical study; he was unwearied in 
his efforts to make his pupil grasp the full musical 
meaning of whatever work might be in hand; he was 
even punctual.” 

“Remembering what Frau Schumann had said of his 
ability to assist me with my technic, I told him before 
beginning with my lessons, of my mechanical difficul- 
ties, and asked him to help me. He answered, ‘Yes, 
that must come first,’ and after hearing me play through 
a study from Clementi’s Gradus ad Parnassum, he im- 
mediately set to work to loosen and equalize my fin- 
gers. Beginning that very day he gradually put me 
through an entire course in technical training, showing 
me how I should best work for the attainment of my 
end at scales, arpeggi, trills, double notes, and octaves. 
At first he made me practice during a good part of 
my lessons, while he sat watching my fingers, telling 
me what was wrong in my way of moving them, indi- 
cating by his own hand a better position for mine, 
absorbing himself entirely for the time being in the 
object of helping me.” . 

“His method of loosening the wrist was, I should 
say, original. I have at all events, never seen or heard 
of it excepting from him, but it loosened my wrist in 
a fortnight and with comparatively little labor on my 
part. How he laughed one day when I triumphantly 
showed him that one of my knuckles, which were then 
rather stiff, had quite gone in, and said to him: ‘You 
have done that.’ ” 

“He had a great habit of turning a difficult passage 
round and making me practice it, not as written. but 
with other accents and in various figures, with the re- 
sult that when I again tried it as it stood the difficulties 
had always considerably diminished and often entirely 
disappeared.” 

“He was never irritable, never indifferent, but al- 
ways helped, stimulated and encouraged. One day. 
when I lamented to him the deficiencies of my formal 
mechanical training and my present resultant finger 
difficulty, ‘It will come out all right,’ he said, ‘it does 
not come in a week, nor in four weeks.’ ” 

“He was extremely particular about my fingering, 
making me rely on all my fingers as equally as possi- 
ble. One day whilst watching my hands as I played 
him a study from the Gradus, he objected to some of 
my fingering and asked me to change it. I imme- 
diately did so, but said that I had used the one marked 
by Clementi. He at once said that I must not change 
it and would not allow me to adopt his own. A good 


part of each lesson was generally devoted to Bach, to 
the Well Tempered Clavier or the English Suites; and 
as my mechanism improved Brahms gradually increased 
the amount and scope of my work, and gave more 
and more time to the spirit of the music I studied. 
His phrasing as he taught it to me, was, it need hardly 
be said, of the broadest, while he was rigorous in exact- 
ing attention to the smallest details. These he some- 
times treated as delicate embroidery that filled up and 
decorated the broad outline of the phrase, with a large 
sweep of which nothing was ever allowed to interfere. 
Light and shade were also so managed as to help to 
bring out its continuity. Be it, however, most emphati- 
cally declared that he never theorized on these points; 
he merely tried his utmost to make me understand and 
play my pieces as he himself understood and felt them. 
He would make me repeat over and over again, ten or 
twelve times if necessary, part of a movement of 
Bach, till he had satisfied himself that I was beginning 
to realize his wish for particular effects of tone or 
phrasing or feeling. When I could not immediately 
do what he wanted he would say, ‘But it is so difficult,’ 
or ‘It will come,’ tell me to do it again until he found 
his effect was on its way into being and then leave me 
to complete it.” 

“Brahms, recognized no such thing as what is some- 
times called ‘neat playing’ of the compositions of Bach, 
Scarlatti and Mozart. Neatness and equality of finger 
were imperatively demanded by him and in their utmost 
nicety and perfection, but as a preparation not as an 
end. Varying and sensitive expression was to him as 
the breath of life, necessary to the true interpretation 
of any work of genius, and he did not hesitate to avail 
himself of such resources of the modern pianoforte as 
he felt helped to impart it; no matter in what particu- 
lar century his composer may have lived, or what may 
have been the peculiar excellencies or limitations of 
the instruments of his day.” 

“He particularly disliked chords to be spread unless 
marked so by the composer for the sake of a special 
effect. ‘No arpeggios, he used invariably to say if I 
unconsciously gave way to the habit, or yielded to the 
temptation of softening a chord by its means. He 
made very much of the well-known effect of two notes 
slurred together, whether in a loud or a soft tone, and 
I know from his insistence to me on this point that 
the mark had a special significance in his music.” 


BRAHMS’ FRIENDS. 


Despite Brahms’ natural modesty and constant en- 
deavors to escape the ‘“‘lime-light” he had many friends. 
The best known of these were Remenyi, Joachim, 
Liszt and Clara Schumann, all of whom are well 
known. Theodor Bilroth, one of Brahms’ most inti- 
mate companions, was an enthusiastic musician and 
writer who accompanied Brahms on many of his walks 
and who was favored with an extensive correspondence. 
J. V. Widmann was another whose friendship Brahms 
cultivated. Brahms’ great journalistic champion was 
the renowned Viennese critic, Dr. Eduard Hanslick, 
whose defence of his friend was as strong as his at- 
tacks upon Wagner were bitter. Brahms had a high 


BRAHMS’ BIRTHPLACE. 


14 


admiration for Ernest 
von Wildenbruch, the 
Austrian playwright, 
whose works were es- 
pecially stimulating to. 
him. 


THE BRAHMS-WAG- 
NER CONTROVERSY. 

It was natural that 
those who found 
Wagner's modern 
ideas incompatible 
with their own should 
seek a champion whom 
they might put for- 
ward as an opponent 
of Wagner. As a 
matter of fact, the 
entire controversy was 
fought out upon jour- 
nalistic lines and was 
never based upon 
personal animosity. Brahms was a_ great 
admirer of Wagner and rarely missed a first perform- 
ance of his works when given in Vienna. Brahms 
died in Vienna April 3d, 1897. 


BRAHMS WHEN A YOUNG MAN. 


BRAHMS’ COMPOSITIONS. 


An English writer (Edwin Eyans, Sr.) bas recently pub- 
lished the first of a series of three large volumes, giving 
a detailed description of the works of Johannes Brahms. 
Only by studying a work of this kind can one form a con- 
ception of the great number of the collected works of this 
master. His works have been given opus numbers up to 
122. There are some twenty-three works without opus 
numbers. Many of these opus numbers .represent several 
different compositions in a set. He hada peculiar habit of 
producing works of a kind in pairs, as two symphonies, 
two sets of songs, two sets of pianoforte pieces. When his 
first symphony was produced it made such an impression 
that it was immediately called “The Tenth Symphony,” im- 
plying that it was a worthy successor to the nine Beethoven 
Symphonies. Brahms wrote four symphonies and four con- 
certos, representing his powerful, reserved, unostentatious 
style—a style majestic and substant’al, but often so lofty 
that critics of superficial training have- described some of 
Brahms’ compositions as ‘‘muddy.” Brahms’ chamber music 
deserves a chapter in itself since it revives the classical 
forms in a manner worthy of his greatest predecessors. He 
never wrote any operatic work, but it is believed that he 
would have done so had he been able to Wess a worthy 
libretto. His Deutsches Requiem places him at once among 
the great composers of choral works. His songs are par- 
ticularly beautiful and individual. Among the best are 
Sapphic Ode, Wie bist du Meine Ki niyen, Magelone-Leider, 
Botschaft Vier Ernste Gesange, Feldeinsamkeit, In Watl- 
deinsamkeit, Die Mainacht, Von Ewige Liebe, Wieyenlied, 
Without doubt Brahms’ best known compositions are his 
Hungarian Dances. These appeared in 1867 as piano duets, 
and were later arranged for orchestra by the composer. 
The melodies were for the most part not original with 
Brahms, and the original edition frankly states that they 
were “arranged by Brahms,” thus making the frequent ac- 
cusations of plagiarism unnecessary. 

The grandeur which characterizes Brahms’ orchestral 
works is not absent from his piano pieces. There is, how- 
ever a peculiar quality about his compositions for the most 
popular instrument, that have kept them apart from the 
novice. Many music-lovers seemingly have to develop a taste 
for them, as one does for rare tropical fruits and scents, 
In some pieces one has the feeling that Brahms has taken 
up the art of Sehumann as expressed in that master’s 


Kreisleriana and Fantasia in C and carried it to very 
lofty altitudes of complexity. 
A BRAHMS’ PROGRAM. 

Duet, Hungarian Dance, No. 2........ " Grade 4 
Sone, Sapphic Ode. We tarts sce ee Grade 4 
Piano Soto, Valses, Opus 39 (No. 2 and 4).. Grade 4 
Sone, Wie bist du meine Kénigin........... Grade 5 
CuHorus, The Little Dustman (Female Voices) Grade 3 
Piano Duet, First Movement C Minor Sym- 

Phony Now 1h. So 38) ork ate apes eet eee Grade 8 
Prano Soto, Hungarian Dance, No. 7........ Grade 5 
(Arranged by Philipp.) 

Piano Soto, Andante from the First Sonata.. Grade 6 
(Arranged by Mathews.) 

Sone, In Waldcinsamkett.......0..+0s0e00ee5 Grade 5 

Piano Soto, Cappriccio (Opus 76, No. 2).... Grade 7 

Piano Soto, Ballade, Opus to, No. 1.......... Grade 6 

Piano Duet, Opus 39 (No. 13 and No. 10).. Grade 4 


BOOKS UPON BRAHMS. 


Life of Johannes Brahms, by Florence May, two 
volumes, many illustrations. Brahms by J. Lawrence 
Erb. Brahms, by Herbert Antcliffe. Johannes Brahms, 
by Dr. Hermann Dieters. Johannes Brahms, by J. A. 
Fuller-Maitland. The Works of Johannes Brahms, by 
Edwin Evans, Sr. (three volumes.) 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Name a great German Statesman who was a contem- 
porary of Brahms. 
» 2. When and where was Brahms born? State some facts 
about his immediate family. 
3. Who were Brabms’ early teachers? 
4. What great German composer introduced Brahms’ 
compositions to the musical public of Europe? 
5. Give a description of Brahms’ personal appearance. 
6. How did Brahms rank as a pianist? 
7. Tell something of Brahms as a teacher, 
8. Name some famous friends of Brahms. 
9. How many opus numbers did he write? 
10. When and where did Brahms die? 


sail 


Fs TT LE 


PUTT TET TTS 


FG 
® 


CHOPIN’S PERIOD. 


Cuoprn’s later artist life is so closely knit into 
that of Paris—so clearly identified with the 
artistic atmosphere of the French metropolis, 
that his period is really that of the great “City 
of Light’ when it was the intellectual magnet 
of the entire world. During the first half 
of the last century the economic machiney of the 
French government was being welded into new shapes 
by successive wars and Paris itself was in reality a 
huge political forge, communicating its force, its scin- 
tillating brilliance, its creative fascination to a host of 
powerful thinkers, including the epic Hugo, the realistic 
Maupassant, the sardonic Heine, the humanistic Balzac, 
the iconoclastic Wagner, the socialistic Baudelaire, and 
other brain men were destroying the old and—when 
it was permitted to them, building the new. Added to 
these powerful influences was that of the Salon, that 
peculiarly French institution so beneficial to art work- 
ers. The scintillating women who made the occasional 
gatherings of artists in their Salons productive of so 
much mental awakening were in themselves capable of 
high literary achievements. Mme. de Stael, fighting for 
liberty; the cigar-smoking George Sand; Daniel Stern, 
brilliant at times and again trivial, belong to a class 
quite apart from the du Barrys and the Recamiers to 
whom the salon was purely a social diversion. Chopin’s 
debt to the Salon of his day can hardly be estimated. 


CHOPIN’S ANCESTRY. 


Added to the Parisian influences which affected Chopin, 
we have the tragic power which came to him from the 
land of his birth—then in the struggle which proved so 
fatal to poor Poland. Chopin’s father, Nicholas Chopin, 
went from his birthplace in France to Warsaw in 1787, 
where he found employment as a bookkeeper in a snuff 
factorv. Later he became captain of the National guard 
end finally a teacher of French, holding appointments in 
the Warsaw Lyceum and in the military schools. He also 
eonducted a private boarding school. While acting as a 
teacher he met Justine Kryzanowska (or Krzyzanowska) 
a member of an old Polish family and made her his 
wife in 1806. ; 

Some writers have attempted to show that Chopin's 
father was descended from a Polish family named Szop 
or Szopen, which had emigrated to France some generations 
before his birth. 


CHOPIN’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Zelazowa Wola, where the master was born, is a little 
village about twenty-eight miles from Warsaw in Rus- 
sian Poland. The date of his birth has been the cause 
of numerous disputes, some declaring it to be 1810, as 
inscribed upon his tombstone in Paris, and others 
March 1, 1809, as given in the Grove Dictionary. 
Chopin’s baptismal certificate apparently gives the 
date as February 22, 1810, and that 
is accepted in some of the latest 
dictionaries. 


CHOPIN’S EARLY TRAINING. 

Chopin’s first teacher was Adelbert 
Zwiny, a Bohemian, who boasted of be- 
ing a violinist, a pianist and a com- 
poser. His ability has been belittled by 
many commentators. However, he suc- 
‘ceeded in advancing the child’s technic 
so that he was able to play a concerto 
by Gyrowetz (a friend of Mozart and 
Capellmeister at the Viennese Royal 
Court Opera). How extraordinary 
really was the playing of “Fritzschen,” 
as his friends nicknamed him, may be 
‘estimated when it is learned that he 
was dubbed “the Second Mozart,” and 
that Mme. Catalani, the Tetrazzini of 
her day, presented him with a watch in- 
scribed with her name—a trifling gift 
for one who frequently received as much 
as $1,000 for singing “God Save the 
King” and “Rule Britannia.” When only 
fourteen, Chopin played for the Czar 
Alexander and received a diamond ring. 


“Flats off, gentlemen, a genius.’—ROBERT SCHUMANN. 


Chopin’s second teacher was Joseph Elsner, director 
of the Warsaw Conservatory—an able musician who had 
had a University training. The boy was twelve years 
old when he started in with his new mentor, who in- 
structed him particularly in harmony and. counterpoint. 
Liszt said of this teacher, “Elsner taught Chopin those 
things that are the most difficult to learn and most 
rarely known; to be exacting to oneself and to value 
the advantages that are only to be obtained by dint of 
patience and labor.” 

It is generally suggested that Chopin’s general edu- 
cation was somewhat neglected, but this is hard to 
believe when we remember his father’s pedagogical con- 
nections. The boy was known to have been familiar 
with French and Latin and had a smattering of math- 
ematics and geography. 


CHOPIN’S LATER LIFE. 
In 1825 Chopin played in public again, this time choos- 
ing a Moscheles Concerto. An interesting episode of 


CHOPIN’S BIRTHPLACE. 


15 


HUAUUUOAOUUDONOUORULOREVD ODO NGQOOINONETE 


‘ 


mc 5 


this concert was the fact that he improvised 
upon a “wonderful new instrument” called the 
7Eolodion, a nondescript combination of the 
pianoforte and the primitive reed organ long 
since forgotten. Aside from a few local excur- 
sions to the homes of friends and patrons Chopin 
did not venture out into the world until 1828 
when the timid youth went to Berlin, seeing Spontini, 
Zelter and Mendelssohn, but not daring to introduce 
himself to them. Here he heard new musical works 
that were a revelation to him. The next year he went 
to Vienna where he was persuaded to give a concert 
which proved immensely successful. 

It was determined that Chopin should give a farewell 
concert in Warsaw before his contemplated first tour 
as a virtuoso. This was given in 1830 and was so well 
patronized that two more “Farewell” concerts were 
given. The two Chopin Concertos (E minor and F 
minor) were already in existence at that time, but they 
were not played as a whole but rather in parts with 
solos or songs interspersed between the movements. 

When leaving Poland for the last time Elsner and 
his pupils are said to have waylaid Chopin’s coach and 
sung a cantata, composed especially in his honor, They 
also gave him, according to the story, a loving cup filled 
with the soil of his expiring fatherland, soil that only 
a few years later was dusted over the casket that car- 
ried the body of the tone poet to its last resting place 
in Pére Lachaise. 


<i 
el 


CHOPIN IN PARIS. 


The first tour through Germany, Bohemia, Austria 
was not a financial success and Chopin was obliged to 
secure assistance from home. In Paris Chopin found a 
warm welcome, partly because the French sympathized 
deeply with the struggles of the unfortunate Poles and 
partly because his temperament was much more closely 
allied to the French than to the Germans. At his first 
concert he was accompanied by the uninspired Kalk- 
brenner playing a duet for two pianos, composed by 
Kalkbrenner, and accompanied by players at four other 
pianos after the pretentious manner of the times. 
Chopin played quite frequently until 1835 when his deli- 
cate physical condition and retiring tendencies kept him 
more and more from the concert platform. He gave 
three private performances with the view of bringing 
out new works in 1841, 1842 and 1848. In 1835 he 
visited Leipsic where he met Schumann and Mendels- 
sohn. Schumann, always generous in exploiting new 
artists, was one of the first to make known Chopin’s 
extraordinary talent to artistic Europe. His article 
about the French-Polish tone painter, 
commencing “Hats off, gentlemen, a 
genius,” is one of the finest tributes 
ever made by one composer to a con- 
temporary. 

Chopin first visited England in 1837, 
playing privately at the home of the 
‘piano manufacturer, Broadhouse. In 
the same year he met George Sand, 
who was to. act such an important part 
in his later life. The fascination of 
Chopin for that strong-minded ag- 
gressive woman, who at times delighted 
to array herself in masculine attire, can 
only be explained as a_ pathological 
symptom of the weakness which later 
resulted in tubercular decay. 

George Sand, called hideous by some 
and beautiful by others, was born Ama- 
tine Lucile Aurore Dupin. At 18 she 
married a shiftless French Baron, M. 
Dudevant, only to elope, after nine 
years of strife, with a young French 
lawyer, L. I. J. Sandeau, whose last 
name in abbreviated form suggested 
her own pen name of George Sand. 
Their struggles for existence were ex- 
citing. The woman actually painted cigar 


MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH OF CHOPIN. 


cases for a living until she discovered the voltage that 
lay hidden in her pen. Ere long she became one of the 
great literary figures of France. Her next love was Alfred 
de Musset, with whom she went upon a journey to Italy. 
Franz Liszt assumed the honor of introducing her to 
Chopin. He is referred to in at least three of her books. 
Indeed, she made Chopin the hero in one of her novels 
(Lucrezia Floriani). Her completed works fill one hun- 
dred and twenty volumes, although much of her writing 
had the merest transient value, 

It was with such a woman that Chopin set out for 
Majorica in 1838 with the hope of restoring his delicate 
health. She was five years older than Chopin and had 
at this time two children. 
The abandoned life of the 
Parisian artists of the 
time made little effort to 
conform to convention- 
alities, and civil marriages 
of this kind were more 
usual than unusual. 
Chopin borrowed money 
for the journey and Mme. 
Sand was accompanied by 
her daughter, her son and 
a maid. The trip was 
disastrous in many ways. 
The tropical vegetation, 
the opalescent water, the 
languor of the South, all 
seemed to have an effect upon Chopin’s imagination and 
many of his most wonderful works were written dur- 
ing this period. However, his health steadily declined 
and they were obliged to return the next year. It must 
be said in all justice that George Sand for a long time 
watched over the feeble, neurotic Chopin with great 
care and tenderness, In fact, she did not leave him 
until 1847, or two years before his death, when his 
nervous exactions became almost unbearable. 


A FAMOUS CONTEMPORARY 
PEN PORTRAIT OF CHOPIN. 


CHOPIN’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Frederic Nieck’s description of Chopin is conceded to be 
an accurate one. It is as follows: 

“He was of slim frame, middle height, fragile but won- 
derfully flexible limbs, delicately formed hands, very small 
feet, an oval, softly outlined head, a pale, transparent com- 
plexion, long silken hair of light chestnut color parted upon 
one side, tender brown eyes, intelligent rather than dreamy, 
a finely curved aquiline nose and a sweet subtle smile.’ 

Chopin was noted for his fastidiousness in dress, making 
much of correct “form” in his walking sticks and neckties. 
_ As_a child he was so naive that at first concert he 
imagined that the audience was more attracted by his new 
lace collar than by his playing. Some reports have it that 
Chopin detested drinking, smoking and all kinds of foul 
language. 

In his youth Chopin was 
noted for his volatile na- 
ture, swaying between 
buoyant enthusiasm and 
the depths of melancholia. 
He was a persistent but 
very irregular worker, 
preferring to try out his 
exotic harmonies in the 
dead of the night to prac- 
tising systematically in the 


daytime, He was “super- 
stitious, particularly  re- 
garding the number 
“seven,” which he looked 


upon as a portentous fac- 
for in the working out of 
the Fate that he believed 
confronted him. Although 
his work as a _ tone poet 
was confined largely to 
one instrument, it must not 
be thought that Chopin 
was not versatile in other 
ways. A famous actor 
who had seen Chopin in 
amateur theatricals de- 
, clared that the young 
musician might also make a great actor. Chopin also got 
up a newspaper in manuscript form when he was a boy. 


CHOPIN 


IN HIS YOUTH, 


CHOPIN AS A PERFORMER. 


Volumes might readily be made from the enthusiastic 
comments of Chopin’s admirers who heard him play. 

The best method of forming an 
a pianist is to make a few quotations from the statements 
of his contemporaries. 


STEPHEN HeLLter—‘It was a wonderful sight to see 
Chopin's small hands expand and cover a third of the 
keyboard. It was like the opening of the mouth of a 
serpent about to swallow a rabbit.” 


Franz Liszr—‘‘We could not hope to convey to those 
who have never heard him, any just conception of that 
fascination so ineffably poetic, that charm subtle and pene- 
trating as the delicate perfume of the vervain or the 
Ethiopian calla, which shrinking and exclusive, refuses to 


idea of his gifts as, 


diffuse its exquisite aroma in the noisome breath of crowds, 
whose heavy air can only retain the stronger odor of the 
tuberose, the incense of burning resin. 


MoscuEeLps—‘His ad libitum playing which with the in- 
terpreters of his music degenerate into disregard of time, 
is with him the most charming originality of execution. 


Grorcrs Maruras—“Only those who listened to him can 
rightly appreciate the fact that nothing has ever been 
heard approaching his playing. The piano itself seemed 
to be intensely alive. He piayed as if he were composing.” 


SCHUMANN’S TRIBUTE. 


ScuuMaANN—‘Imagine an molian harp possessed of all 
the scales, and these made to vibrate altogether by an 
artist’s hand, with every kind of fantastic embellishment. 
but in such a manner that a fundamental bass note and 
a softly singing upper part were always audible, and one 
has a fairly good idea of Chopin’s playing. No wonder 
that one prefers those of his pieces heard from himself, 
and therefore let us mention, in the first place, the A 
flat Htude—more a poem than a study. It would be a 
mistake to imagine that he allows all the small notes to 
be distinctly heard; one was aware, rather, of the un- 
dulation of the A flat major chord, strengthened afresh 
here and there by the use of the pedal, but one was 
always sensible through -the harmonies of the wonderful 
melody of the big notes, and about the middle of the 
piece a tenor part was heard distinctly from the chords. 
When the piece terminated one felt as though, but half 
awake. one would like to seize a beautiful picture seen 
in a dream. It was impossible to say much and praise 
was unutterable. He went on to the second in the book 
in F minor. another which leaves an unforgetable im- 
pression of his originality—so seductive, so dreamy, so soft 
—something like the singing of a child in its sleep.” 


CHOPIN AS A TEACHER. 


Of all the many pupils Chopin taught, not one ever at- 
tained great renown as a virtuoso as did for instance sev- 
eral pupils of the fiery Liszt. Lysberg, Mathias, Gunsborg, 
Mikull, Filtsch and others all leaned confidently upon the 
reputation of their famous teacher. 

Possibly Chopin was too sincere to incite his pupils to 
achieve platform triumphs. However, good accounts of his 
teaching have been left. (See article by George Mathias 
in Tur PErupe for September, 1912.) Chopin himself 
sketched the following: as part of a projected ‘‘method,” 
unfortunately never completed. 


“No one notices inequality in the power of the notes 
of a scale when it is played very fast and equally as 
regards time. In a good mechanism the aim is not to 
play everything with an equal sound, but to acquire a beau- 
tiful quality of touch and a perfect shading. For a long 
time players have acted against nature in seeking to give 
equal power to each finger. On the contrary, each finger 
should have an appropriate part assigned to it. The thumb 
has the greatest power, being the thickest finger and the 
freest. Then comes the little finger at the other extrem- 
ity of the hand. The middle finger is the main support 
of the hand and is assisted by the first. Finally comes 
the third. the weakest one. As to this Siamese twin of 
the middle finger, some plavers try to. force it with all 
their might to become independent. A thing impossible 
and most likely unnecessary. There are then many differ- 


.ent qualities of sound, just as there are several fingers. 


The point is to utilize the differences; and this in other 
words is the art of fingering.” 


CHOPIN’S FRIENDS. 


Oi the many people who claimed the friendship of Chopin 
there seems to be no end. In his early life, human in- 
terest centers around his first inspiring love affair, with 
Constantia Gladowska, whom he apparently forgot after 
a short and fervid friendship. Alas, the fickle Constantia 
wedded a mundane shop keeper! 

Chopin’s aristocratic surroundings during his youth gave 
him an immediate entre to the higher social circles of Paris 
and his artistic talents opened the doors of the Salons wide. 


Among all his musical friends no one was more deyoted 
than Franz Liszt who wrote a highly appreciative, richly 
colored life of the musician. In one chapter he describes 
one of those enviable evenings at the home of the much 
lionized musician at which Heine, the vitrolic satirist and 
etherical poet. Meverbeer. the maker of musical “cycloramas, 
Hiller, the talented German-Jewish composer, lacking in 
great inspiration, Delacroix, a brilliant painter of the time, 
and George Sand were present. Mendelssohn, who also at- 
tended somé of those eventful salons gives an affectionate 
account of Chopin in his letters. Matthew Arnold, the 
English essayist, was another who was privileged to know 
the poet of the piano. Moscheles, Schumann and Kalk- 
brenner, the presumptuous and penurious Parisian teacher 
who did his best to enlist Chopin as one of his pupils. 
were among his admirers. 


CHOPIN’S COMPOSITIONS. 


Seventy-three opus numbers are placed to Chopin’s credit 
in the accented catalogues. Added to this there are thirty- 
two separate additional works. Sixteen of these works were 
published posthumously and includes some of the most beau- 
tiful Chopin works such as the Fantasie Impromptu and 
the Sonata in C Minor. It would be difficult to get an 
audience of what Mr. James Huneker would call “‘Chopin- 
zees to determine what may be called the greatest Chopin 
compositions. With the exception of a few songs and some 
plano pieces with orchestral accompaniments his pieces are 
almost wholly for the piano. Chopin valued melody highly 
and is said to have been a great admirer of Bellini as 
well as Bach. In the Polonaise and the Mazurka Chopin 
is incomparable. His treatment of the Valse is so indi- 
vidual that despite hundreds of attemnts to imitate his 
style nothing has approached the Chopin Valses, The Noc- 
turnes and the Preludes may be called _the acme of the 
romantic in music and the Scherzos, Ballads, Fantasies 
and Sonatas reach so far out to the borders of the pian- 


16 


kissed the crucifix, 


ist’'s world that they have remained the biggest contri 
bution to the literature of the instrument since Beethoven. 


HOW CHOPIN DIED. 


The Abbé Jelowiki was by Chopin’s bedside when he 
passed away. He at first received the ‘sacraments of 
the Church out of deference to the piety of his mother, 
but as the parting approached he became more and more 
devout, and at the end 


pressed it to his heart 
and exclaimed, “Now, I 
am at the source of all 
Blessedness.” Gutman, 
his pupil, is said to have 
nursed him night and 
day up to the end, and 
tradition has it that the 
Countess Delphine 
Potacka sang softly to 
the world-tired Chopin 
during his last moments. 
We are also told that 
George Sand came to 
the door of his house 
just before the end beg- 
ging admission, but was 
barred by the faithful guardian Gutman. Let us hope 
that she did—otherwise we can only think that she made 
a puppet of the great tone-poet—a toy of convenience. 
ambition and fancy. He was buried in evening clothes, 
his casket “lost in flowers.” Meyerbeer was one of the 
distinguished men who bore it to the last resting place. 
How wonderful is art which unites Jew and Gentile in 
its magnificent brotherhood in the most profound mo- 
ments of life! : 


GEORGE SAND. 


BOOKS UPON CHOPIN, 

Chopin, the Man and His Music, by James Huneker; 
Chopin and Other Musical Essays, by H. T. Finck; 
Life of Chopin, Franz Liszt; Frederic Chopin as a Man 
and Musician, by Frederick Niecks; Frederic Chopin, 
His Life, Letters and Works, by Moritz Karosowski; 
Frederic Francois Chopin, by Charles Willeby; Chopin 
by J. Cuthbert Hadden; A Hand Book to Chopin’s 
Works, by G. C. Ashton Jonson; Chopin, as Revealed in 
His Diary, by Count Stanislas Tarnowski. 


A CHOPIN PROGRAM. 
J. Prano Duet, Polonaise Militaire in A 


Major ia do.ct ste eee Sister rade s 
2. Prano Soto, Berceuse, Opus 57......008 .Grade 8 
3. P1Ano Soto, Valse in D flat, Opus 64, No. 
T oaiscostiuls dda tat ele jon) Grade 9 
Valse in C sharp Minor, Op. 
64, .NiOh 2ccleackat ee See «ice, 2c Grade 7 
4. Viot1In Soto, Etude Opus 25, No. 7, Ar- 
ranged by Sol Marcassom............ Grade 6 
5. Prano Soto, Mazurka Opus 72.7. 09ees oe Grade 3 
6. Piano Soto, Nocturne in B Major, Opus 
9; NOs. 3... Galetns eons ee eee ...Grade 9 
Etude, Opus 25, No. 9...0.. Grade 8 
7. Piano Duet, Funeral March, Opus 25....Grade 3 
8. Viotin Soo, Nocturne, Opus 9, No. 2 (G. : 
Papini) «..si42 sae¢acso eee ....-Grade 5 
9. PiANO Soto, Valse in E Minor........... Grade 4 
10. Vocat Soto, “The Maiden’s Wish’........Grade 3 
11. Piano Soto, Ballade in A flat, Opus 47....Grade 10 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. ‘fo what French social function did Chopin owe much? 

2. When and where was Chopin born? State some facts 
about his immediate family. 

3. Who were Chopin’s teachers? 

4. When did Chopin meet Schumann and Mendelssohn? 

5. Who was the famous French authoress who was asso- 
ciated with Chopin? 

6. Describe Chopin’s appearance. 

7. Tell something about Chopin as a pianist. 

8. How did Chopin rank as a teacher? 

9. How many opus numbers are placed to Chopin’s 
credit? 

10. When and where did Chopin die? 


CAST OF CHOPIN’S FINELY DEVELOPED HAND. 


: 


. 


in two directions. 


PTT TTT AT) 


+? TT 


= 


AU is 


io 


A NEW PERIOD. 


Tue great musical awakening that has been 
going on in France during the last forty years 
has nowhere been more clearly tracted than 
in Romain Rolland’s excellent work Musicians 
of To-day. Rolland himself is one of the great 
forces which have had to do with moulding the new 
musical art of France. A Professor of Musical Criti- 
cism, his influence is weighty and his prestige gained 
through his momentous contribution to contemporary 
literature (the ten volume novel Jean Christophe) 
has made the opinion of Rolland very significant. 

Rolland states than “in 1870 no one had a lighter 
heritage to bear than French musicians; for the past 
had been forgotten and such a thing as real musical 
education did not exist. The musical weakness at that 
time was a very curious thing, and has given many 
people the impression that France has never been a 
musical nation. Historically speaking, nothing could 
‘be more wrong. Certainly there are races more gifted 
in music than others; but often the seeming differences 
of race are really differences of time; and a nation 
appears great or little in its art according to what 
period of its history we consider. England was a 
musical nation until the revolution of 1688; France was 
the greatest musical nation in the sixteenth century, 
and the recent publications of M. Henry Expert have 
given us a glimpse of the originality and perfection 
of the Franco-Belgian art during the Renaissance. 
But without going back as far as that we find that 
Paris was a very musical town at the time of the 
Restoration, at the time of the first performance of 
Beethoven’s Symphonies at the Conservatoire and the 
first great works of Berlioz and the Italian Opera.” 

Rolland then quotes Hugo’s famous remark that 
Germany’s inferiority was measured by its superiority 
in music, te show in what low esteem music had 
fallen in France. Then he traces the development of 
music from the Concerts of Pasdeloup in 1861 to the 
present. In 1880 we find the summit of the success of 
the Concerts de l’Association Artistique under Colonne, 
when the prejudice against Wagner had been overcome 
and his music was being received with French enthu- 
siasm. Gradually we find many of the most noted 
French artists, musicians and men of letters carried 
away by the Wagnerian deluge. The Revue Wagner- 
ienne was published and many noted writers contributed 
to the movement. Here was the triumph of a great 
German in a city and country where he had at first 
been received with bitter hostility. 

In 1890 Russia and Scandinavia commence to have 
a wonderful influence over the aft development of 
Paris and the French art workers. Meanwhile the 
Great Belgian César Franck had completed his work, 
and its influence was hardly less than that of Wagner 
although it was not accompanied by any spectacular 
outbursts. Substantial in the extreme and resembling 
in character the serious efforts of Johann Sebastian 
Bach, Franck made a magnificent impress upon all 
French musical art. The Schola Cantorum (1894) and 
the Ecole Supérieure de Musique, headed by Franck’s 
famous pupil d’Indy, brought about an altogether new 
interest in music at the beginning of the present cen- 
tury. 

Thus we note that musical interest was expanding 
The French music workers were 
commencing to take deep interest in the music of pre- 
vious epochs and likewise in the music of alien com- 
posers. Richard Strauss was welcomed to Paris as 
were the modern Scandinavian and Slavic composers. 
In 1891 we note the first performance of Bruneau’s 
Le Réve, in 1898 of d’Indy’s Fervaal and in 1900 of 
Charpentier’s Louise, all of them unconventional in 
the extreme and pointing the way to new musical 
triumphs for France. In 1902 we note the first per- 
formance of M. Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, which 
was so new that even the French, accustomed as they 
are to startling novelties, were astonished. M. Rolland 


a 


aT 


Claude 


1862—The Real Debussy—1918 


CASS ES DS CER YEE MOS ITI RSID F [BARES 
CF RE Ee SAS 


“To believe that one can judge a work of 
art by first impressions is one of the strangest 
and most dangerous of delusions.” 


cencludes his historical review of the last thirty years 
with the portentous remark: “From this time on French 
music felt that it had left school, and claimed to have 
founded a new art, which reflected the spirit of the 
race and was freer and suppler than the Wagnerian 
art. These ideas, which were seized upon and enlarged 
by the press, brought about rather quickly a conviction 
in French artists of France’s superiority in music. Is 
that conviction justified? The future alone can tell 
us.” 
DEBUSSY’S RAPID RISE. 


Most musicians will be somewhat surprised to dis- 
cover that Claude Achille Debussy was born as long 
ago as 1862 (at St. Germain-en-Laye). The very new- 
ness and freshness of his music has given many who 
are not informed the impression that Debussy is a 
very young man, With this has come quite naturally 
the consequent idea that his development has been 
rapid and possibly ephemeral. Nothing could be fur- 
ther from the real facts. Debussy’s development was 
the result of a severe grounding in all of the conven- 
tional French methods of instruction. That is, he 
was first made acquainted with the best in the music 
of the past before his radical departure toward new 
roads was attempted. 

We have in Debussy a peculiar combination of an 
iconoclast, an extremely sensitive musician, and an 
artistic temperament altogether unusual. It is often 
said that he has knowingly surrounded himself with 
a veil of mysticism for the purposes of gaining pub- 
licity. This, however, is a libel upon the man.. From 
his childhood it is said that he lived in an atmosphere 
of dreams. His birthplace not far from Paris reactied 
out to the skirts of a beautiful forest where the boy 
wandered during his play time. Later when he came 
to write Pelléas and Mélisande he remembered this 
forest and planned the first scene to represent it. 

Debussy was fortunate in having as a teacher a for- 
mer pupil of Chopin in the person of Mme. de Sivry 
(mother of Charles de Sivry), who oversaw his edu- 
cation until his entrance at the Conservatoire in 1873. 
At the great French institution Debussy became the 
pupil of M. Lavignac in Solfeggio and won three 
medals in this study (1874, 1875 and 1876). Piano was 
studied under Marmontel and Debussy won the second 
prize in this study in 1877. His harmony studies were 


17 


ae 


> _ 
cone es — 
io Cs 92 


pursued under the direction of Emile Durand. 
In the class for accompanying he won the 
second prize in 1880. He also attended the 
classes in organ under César Franck and the 
classes in composition under Ernest Guiraud, 
winning an accessory prize in counterpoint 
gue in 1882, and the second Grand Prix de 
Rome in 1883. Finally in 1884 his Cantata L’Enfant 
prodigue brought him the Premier Grand Prix de 
Rome, which entitled him to three years for further 
development outside of France. 

The foregoing dates have been given in detail to 
show how elaborate the student work of Debussy must 
have been. Counting the time spent under the bene- 
fits of the Prix de Rome we find that Debussy’s higher 
musical education was extended over thirteen or four- 
teen years. Naturally he did much in the meantime 
that had to do with his general education. In 1879 
he lived for a time in Russia as the private pianist in 
the home of a rich mechanical engineer. 


DEBUSSY IN ROME. 


Very few of the great French musicians of the past 
half century have been deprived of the advantages of 
the Prix de Rome. At the same time there have been 
numerous prize winners who have been forgotten al- 
most the moment they have entered the glorious Villa 
Medicis. This was not the case with Debussy, how- 
ever, for during his prize years he was very industri- 
ous, producing a lyric drama, Almanzor, upon a text 
by Heine; a symphonic suite in two parts for orchestra 
and chorus (Printemps); La Damoiselle elwe and a 
Fantasie for piano and orchestra. 

It is said that in Rame Debussy met an old gentle- 
man who had formerly been a musician. This un- 
named person called the young composer’s attention to 
the remarkable score of Moussorgsky’s Boris Godou- 
nov, which was then procurable in the original edition 
prior to the retouching which Rimsky-Korsakov accom- H 
plished. Debussy was amazed at the bravery of the 
work which to most musicians of the time and even 
to-day seems a meaningless jumble. Debussy visited 
Bayreuth in 1889 and heard Parsifal, Tristan and 
Isolde and Die Meistersinger. The following year he 
returned to the Holy City impressed with the idea that 
it was impossible to follow two forms of art so radi- 
cally opposed to each other as the Russian and the 
Waenerian schools. 

Fortunately Debussy arrived at a time when France 
was sated with the commonplaces and conventionalities 
of a beautiful but somewhat artificial past. The radi- 
cal atmosphere of Wagner was still strongly felt and 
all France was crying for an art of its own. Conse- 
quently Debussy did not have difficulty in winning the 
interest and favor of many of the older French musi- 
cians, including Massenet, who were quick to perceive 
the signs of the times. Consequently his orchestral 
work L’Aprés-Midi dun Faune, produced in 1892, met 
with surprising favor. It was in the same year that 
Debussy read that delightful poem of mysticism and 
symbolism Pelléas et Mélisande by the great Belgian, 
Maurice Maeterlinck. At the same time he secured 
the rights to compose the music to Pelléas et Mélisande 
although the work was not brought out until ten years 
later (Opera Comique, April 30, 1902). This epoch- 
making work required six years to complete. In the 
meantime he wrote many songs and piano pieces which 
startled the hearer at first but then in many cases 
absorbed him by a charm little employed in music, the 
charm of atmosphere. Conventional melodies were 
forsaken and instead a new kind of impressionism was 
making itself felt in music. 

Debussy can not be given the credit of having in- 
augurated this new movement since we have already 
related his interest in the amazing production of the 
besotten Russian Moussorgsky. Would the world ac- 
cept music of this kind? Was it all a passing fad, 
a kind of cant that people claimed to like simply be- 


cause it was fashionable to like the extraordinary. The 
world is large and tastes are infinite. There will al- 
ways be people whose musical horizons are lined by 
simple and beautiful tunes like Sally in Our Alley and 
My Old Kentucky Home. Others reach out to Chopin, 
Raff, Grieg, Beethoven, Brahms and Wagner. Yet 
others find a beauty in musical atmospheric effects 
and they are altogether sincere in their expressions 
of rapture. Fortunately for the world of music there 
is no high authority to decree what we may like and 
what we must detest. The Chinaman may revel in 
his squeaks and the Spaniard may dream to the sweet 
drowsy music of his guitar, 

Debussy has been described as being the height 
of geniality among friends but wunapproachable to 
strangers. His critical works reveal an envied nicety 
in the use of words which stamps him as a good 
conversationalist. He is famed for his delightful im- 
provizations. Despite his reticence he is by no means 
a weakling but on the contrary has a strong head set 
upon broad, vigorous shoulders. His hair is dark and 
his eyes are deep brown. 


DEBUSSY’S WORKS. 


’s works for piano some fifty have been played 
Cc Of these the best known are the Deugr 
Arabesques Jardins sous la Pluie (1903), and 
Poissins Wor, To those who are unfamiliar with Debussy’s 
works the first taste of many of the pianoforte pieces is a 
disappointment. Indeed there are few who would be brave 
enough to declare that it is not necessary to cultivate a 
liking for some of his effects. Passing over a few works of 
piano four-hands we come to Debussy’s songs. Many of 
these have been widely sung, but the Romance to words by 


Paul Verlet is probably the best known from a_ popular 
standpoint, This song, however, is not characteristic of 
Debussy in his most modern moods. It is an exquisite 


work well worth the perusal of the accomplished singer. 
Debussy’s choral music like hig chamber music is limited to 
a few works of which very little is heard outside of the 
great cities. Of his longer pieces for voice and orchestra 
the most noted is La Demoiselle Elué, a musical setting of 
a translation of Rossetti’s famous poem, The Blessed Damosel. 

One of the most notable works of Debussy is the setting 
to the five act mystery play, Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, 
in five acts by Gabriele d’Annunzio, given for the first time 
in Paris in 1911. 

Debussy’s gifts as a critic are little known in America but 
he has written quite extensively upon musical topics. In 
1901 he was the musical critic of the Revue Blanche and in 
1908 he held the same post on the Paris Gil Blas. 


DEBUSSY AND THE MODERN MUSIC OF FRANCE. 

Romain Rolland in the notable book we have quoted 
above says, “The form of the Wagnerian drama is 
antipathetic to the spirit of the French people—to their 
artistic taste, to their ideas about the theatre and to 
their musical feeling. This form may have forced 
itself upon us and by right of victorious genius may 
have strongly influenced the French mind and may do 
so again; but nothing will ever make it anything but 
a stranger in our land. Genius has a right to be 
what it will—to trample underfoot, if it wishes taste 
and morals and the whole of society. But when those 
who are not geniuses wish to do the same thing they 
only make themselves ridiculous and odious. There 
have been too many monkey-Wagners in France, Dur- 
ing the last twenty years scarcely one French musician 
has escaped Wagner’s influence. One understands only 
too well the revolt of the French mind in the name of 
naturalness and good taste, against exaggerations, and 
extremes of passion, whether sincere or not. Pelléas 
et Méhsande came as a manifestation of this revolt, 
It is an wuncompromising reaction against over-em- 
phasis and excess and against anything that oversteps 
the limits of the imagination. From a’ scenic point 
of view, Pelléas et Mélisande is also quite opposed to 
the Bayreuth ideal. The vast proportions—almost im- 
moderate proportions—of the Wagnerian drama, its 
compact structure and intense concentration of mind 
which from beginning to end holds these enormous 
works and their ideology together, and which is often 
displayed at the expense of the action, and even the 
emotions, are as far removed as they can be from the 
French love of clear, logical and temperate action.” 

What then is it other than the contrast with the 
Wagnerian furore that distinguished the music of De- 
bussy and other French musicians of later days from 
that of the music of their predecessors? With many 
musicians the first thought when the name of Debussy 
is mentioned is the whole-tone scale; others ascribe his 
effects to new and wonderful chords which he and he 
alone is supposed to have discovered; others claim 
that his music is little more than a French reflection of 
Moussorgsky. As a matter of fact, the whole-tone 
scale has been used many times in the past by different 
masters although not so continuously as in the works 
of Debussy. 


Mrs. Franz Liebich in her biography of Debussy devotes 
fifteen pages to a discussion of the modus operandi of the 


French composer but even with such a complete description 
the trained musician would have difficulty in gaining more 
than an inkling of the means Debussy employs. It is stated 


that when Debussy was serving with his regiment at Evreux, 
the overtones produced by bells in neighboring church towers 
as’ well 
mensely. 
Debussy 


as the overtones of the bugle interested him im- 
It was this, many people believe, that induced 
to introduce new and unheard of effects in his 


SCENE FROM ACT I OF PELLEAS AND MELISANDE. 


compositions. It is not necessary to explain to musicians 
that every tone is accompanied by a certain series of upper 
tones, harmonics, or partials, which may be distinctly heard 
by means of the right apparatus from the physical labora- 
tory. That is, we may by striking let us say C two leger 
lines below the bass clef detect by means of the proper reso- 
nators the octave above, the fifth above that, the second 
octave (middle C) and the following notes above that in the 
following order ascending e, g, b flat, ec, d, e, f sharp, g, a, b 
flat, b natural and ¢, 


: Lo) 
stot NOS Te) Cel 
Degse: Ome Bod ce oe oiatenn,' 6 oer se . . . 
eee. 16 ee) hee oe Ole 8 i we Ke . ° ° 
. eo 8 6 Vea ot eo Ve ° e ——- 

Reetrs on cheee ony Sem 2p olele = 
Gee Tea ena a os 5 
eT Var St ES oa 
ORS ES) 
Cea ee} 
- = = oreo + OD R o i) bo) 
e . . e ~~ Lond ~Y ~~ o 2 ce} a oO a 
‘3 © ° ‘z ~ Do D © ES) ps) co foo) i) i) 
esi je). (9) Se = 
Set are: 
e& 3 oe 
ie g7== (Firat overtone.) is sensae mee en oatmeal 
- ms wo i o o ~ 
—G-2 2 © A Ow 
Pipe ic’ Ah Ta 
Cs) 


Double Vibrations per second. 


By experimenting with these overtones all related to 
and contained in the fundamental tone as well as with 
other overtones Debussy discovered new effects which 
he constantly employs. Indeed, he thinks nothing 
of such a passage as this from his Danse Sacrée 
which would have staggered a Richter with its consec- 
utive fifths and its consecutive octaves. 


Trés modéré. 


Again such a passage as the following three measures 
from Cloches a travers les feuilles (Bells heard over 
the Leaves) represent something of the charm which 
Debussy has found in the whole tone scale. < 


A DEBUSSY PROGRAM. 


* The preparation of a Debussy program is an extremely 
difficult task inasmuch as everything depends upon the indi- 
vidual taste of the performer and the audience, It should be 
remembered that to many the musie of Debussy is still a 
meaningless nothing. The average audience accustomed to 
tunes and conventional harmonies might have their curiosity 
gratified by hearing some Debussy numbers but many of them 
would on the contrary feel quite lost in a whole program. 
This is not said from any lack of appreciation of the great 
novelty and often exquisite beauty of Debussy’s methods but 
merely to state the fact that most of our public in America 
at least have not reached the point where some of Debussy’s 
“extreme”? works would be relished. Consequently the fol- 
lowing is confined to a few of the most demanded composi- 
tions of Debussy. It is very difficult to grade these compo- 
sitions as their character in’ most instances demands a 
finished technic. Much has been said of the set known as 
the Children’s Corner, including the following numbers: 
Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum (a juvenile satire upon Cle- 
menti), Jumbo’s Lullaby or Berceuse des Elephants (a kind 
of musical joke which only too few will appreciate), Serenade 
for the Doll, The Snow is Dancing, The Little Shepherd, 
Golliwog’s Cake Walk. None of these bear any resemblance 
to such pieces as the Kinderscenen of Schumann, and the 
average American child looking for what he has been taught 
is a tune wili look askance upon the teacher who gives him 
pieces of this type. The pieces would range from the third 
to the fourth grade in the grading of ten. In marked 
vontrast to the Ohildfen’s Corner we find such a composition 
as the Valse La plus que lente, which is rich in charm, hardly 
more “extreme” than many of Godard’s pieces, It was pub- 
lished in 1910, eight years after the production of Pelléas 
et Mélisande, and shows that Debussy can write without 
harmonic exaggerations if he so chooses (Grade 5). 

Poisson’s dor (Gold Fish) is one of the widely played 
pieces of the so called ‘atmospheric’ type by Debussy (Grade 
8). In the two books of twelve Preludes there are many 
interesting but often highly eccentric pieces such as the 
Homage to Pickwick which has a droning God Save the King 
in the bass. These pieces range from fourth to sixth grade. 
Probably Debussy’s most noted pianoforte composition is the 
highly “atmospheric” Jardins sous la Pluie (Gardens in the 
Rain), a delightful impressionistic composition representing 
Debussy’s rare talent at its best (Grade 7-8). Debussy’s 
genius is again shown in his transcription for two hands of 
La Fontaine taken from one of Robert Schumann’s pieces 
for four hands (Grade 6). One of the least difficult of the 
Debussy pieces likely to be of interest to the average player 
is En Bateau (In the boat) probably in the fourth grade, 
Finally we reach such works as the two Arabesques, both of 
which have been widely played and should be even better 
known. They may be undertaken by players in the fifth or 
sixth grades. Reflets dans Veau (Grade 8) has many de- 
lighted admirers of rare effects in the futuristic music of 
today as has the interesting set of pieces known as Suite 
bergamasque which includes the Olair de Lune. Debussy’s 
best known songs are: Les Cloches, Harmonie du Soir, Récit 
et Air @Azoel, and Air de Lia from L’Enfant Prodigue: Le 
Balcon, Mandoline and Romancé 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 
1. Tell_ something of the momentous development of 
music in France since 1870. 
2. When and where was Debussy born? 
3. Who were Debussy’s teachers? 
4. When did he win the Grand Prix de Rome? 


5. What great Russian musician’s works influenced 
Debussy ? 


6. In what year did Debussy first produce his: famous 
orchestral work L’Aprés-Midi d’un Faune? 


7. When was Pelleas et Melisande first given? 
8. Describe Debussy’s work as a critic. 


9. What unusual scale does Debussy employ in many 
of his works? 
10, Name five works by Debussy. 


> 


PHT | 


CNTR 


Iara crv TTeeCREOLUT LATE 


SA 


GLUCK’S PERIOD. 


In order to picture to ourselves the state in 
which the art of opera found itself at the time 
of the birth of Gluck we need only remember 
that stage performances to which music was 
applied after the manner of the times in no way 


reflected the great achievements of Shakespeare, Mar- 


lowe, Webster and Moliére. Indeed anything in the 
way of words was thought good enough for a musi- 
cal setting, and notwithstanding the fact that many 
noble themes were attempted by operatic librettists, 
their results amounted to grandiloquent outbursts or 
insignificant banalities. With the gradual advance of 
knowledge dating from the invention of printing in 
1438 new impulses moved all arts. 

Gluck came at a time when the current of intellectual 
progress was sufficiently strong to make his reforms 
seem needed to a very great many people. What he 
really accomplished was of greater significance to the 
dramatic side of operatic writing than to the musical 
side at the time when his works were produced. He 
found opera merely an excuse for the exhibition of 
the pyrotechnical ability of a few favored singers. The 
libretti were so hopelessly senseless that no one paid 
serious attention to them. Indeed, the influence of 
Gluck’s theories was not seriously felt until another 
great musical champion, Richard Wagner, had ex- 
- tended the campaign of his predecessor. While Wag- 
ner regarded the drama and music as sister arts, Gluck 
sought to make the musical setting subservient to the 
words, and thereby to make the need for poetry of 
high quality more conspicuous. 

Gluck died twenty-six years before the birth of 
Wagner. Indeed, the span of Gluck’s life occupied 
years in the eighteenth century almost identical with 
those covered by Wagner’s life in the nineteenth cen- 
tury. Had he lived after the French Revolution in- 
stead of before he would have enjoyed the liberty 
brought about by the great intellectual changes which 
France, and, indeed, all western Europe, underwent as 
the thud of the guillotine. marked the end of once 
popular tyrants. Gluck’s reforms had not been force- 
ful enough to alter public opinion on operatic matters 
very radically, for even as Wagner stepped upon the 
scene we find operatic writers of calibre of Rossini, 
Bellini, Donizetti and Meyerbeer accepting clap-trap 
libretti with words altogether too ridiculous for seri- 
ous consideration. However, Gluck’s valuable work 
was not lost, and although it is the present purpose to 
consider Gluck as a musician, it is well to keep in 
view his major achievement. 


GLUCK’S ANCESTRY AND YOUTH. 


The free life of the forester and game 
keeper which was followed by Gluck’s 
father and many of his male relatives 
no doubt had something to do with set- 
ting the mind of the boy upon inde- 
pendent artistic aims. His father, Alex- 
ander, and his mother, Walburga, were 
virtually servants, who resided in what 
was known as the Upper Palatinate, now 
a part of Bavaria. The former proudly 
boasted of his position as gun-bearer 
to the Prince of Savoy. There, in the 
village of Weidenwand, near Neumarkt, 
Christoph Wilibald Ritter von Gluck 
was born July 2, 1714. As a child, the 
barefooted, bareheaded little Gluck 
tramped the forests with his father, 
who sought to make him his successor 
in the secrets of the wilds. At the age 
of twelve Gluck entered the Jesuit 
school at Kommotau, in Bohemia, where 
during the following six years music 
became a part of his education. He 
learned to play the organ, the ’cello 
-and the violin, and gained a reputation 
as a good singer. 


—Tw Toa 
a Wilibald Ritter von Gluck 


— Ply 


A Pre SO 


PUIQEONUGUUALALGGARSOLORUTONDEQRGONUGOUGNGVOURDEOONYOOADEDOPUGOEOIONNONNDGNOEQGRECORDORNDOLCCHOCGRANUTOOOONOOCUDANIDUATOOIIN 


“The inutation of nature is the end which both poct 


and composer should set before themselves; that ts 


the goal after which I have striven.” 


The Gluck family was well blessed with children, 
and naturally the boy had very little means. Conse- 
quently he was forced to give lessons and play in 
church in order to continue his education. The tradi- 
tion has it that he was obliged to take his pay from 
the villages in hen eggs, which Gluck in turn exchanged 
for money when the day’s work was done. In 1735 
he was entertained in Vienna by Prince Lovkowitz. 
While there he succeeded in attracting the interest of 
Count Melzi, who became Gluck’s patron and placed 
him under the gifted teacher Sammartini in Milan. 
The young composer remained with Sammartini for 
four years, and was much impressed by the music of 
the contemporary Italian composer. 


GLUCK’S FIRST OPERA. 


In 1741 Gluck produced his opera Artaserse with a 
libretto by Metastasio, the most noted writer of oper- 


vs with 


hi 


he 


THE HOUSE WHERE GLUCK, WAS BORN. 


19 


‘opera from more or less certain doom. 


oes 


Wo iteasaeearns ee 


amet ote 


atic libretti of the time. At the rehearsals fail- 

ure was freely predicted, partly because of the 
composer’s German origin. “What could be ex- 
pected of a German who would write operas?” 
As a concession to the popular Italian taste, 
Gluck, it is said, tried to imitate the best Italian 
Me of the period and succeeded in turning out an 
aria so florid and so superficially tuneful that no one 
would believe that it was not the work of Sammartini. 
It was thought that that aria might save Gluck’s first 
The reverse, 
however, was the case. The aria was disregarded by 
the public and the remainder of the opera was markedly 
successful for a first work. Here was a new composer 
with something so important to say that he must be 
reckoned with. 

In 1842 came another opera with a libretto by Metas- 
tasio. This opera, called Demofoonte, was so well 
received that other cities commissioned Gluck to do 
new work, resulting in the operas Demetrio and Iperm- 
nestra, produced in the same year, and followed dur- 
ing the next year by Siface. Fedra, produced at Milan, 
and Allessandro nell’ Indie were the products of the 
next two:years. Thus we find Gluck in his early 
thirties as a highly successful composer. We know 
but little of these early works, as they were not writ- 
ten for the printing press, but for the stage, and they 
have come down to us only in part. 


GLUCK IN ENGLAND. 


In 1846 Gluck went to England at-the invitation of 
Lord Middlesex. There he produced La Caduta de’ 
Giganti. Handel was then at the height of his fame 
in London, and apparently a new composer was not 
welcomed by the loyal English people, as the opera 
was given only five performances. Shortly thereafter, 
however, Gluck produced his first opera, Artamene, in 
London, and this met with surprising favor. He was 
then invited to write a pasticcio, or, as the name sug- 
gests, a patch work. These unique pieces were often 
very popular at the time. They consisted of selections 
from the works of different composers or selections 
from the works of one composer patched together into 
an evening’s performance. 

Gluck’s pasticcio was called Piramo e Tisbe, and 
was such a dismal failure that the composer was 
immediately convinced that in the future his artistic 
purposes should be of a more serious character. It is 
believed by many that this failure led him to see that 
the music of an operatic passage reaches its greatest 
height when it arises naturally from the dramatic 
situation. However, Gluck was forced by circum- 
stances to write many more works in 
the old-fashioned Italian style before he 
produced his famous Orfeo in 1762—a 
memorable year in the history of opera. 
Such a reform as Gluck brought about 
demanded years. It could not have been 
the result of a sudden inspiration. 


GLUCK’S FORMATIVE YEARS. 


Probably the most interesting period 
in the composer’s life were those years 
when he was tearing down the old he 
had worked so hard to learn and build- 
ing the new which he had reason to 
suspect could not be welcome to a 
world long attached to a decadent art. 
Leaving England, Gluck went to Ger- 
many, where he produced a number of 
operas in succession, none of them at 
first making sufficient impression to be 
remembered to this day. (Le Nosze 
d’Ercole e d’Erbe, 1747; Semiramide 
riconoschiuta, 1748; La Contessa de 
Numi, 1749; Ezio, 1750; La Clemenza di 
Tito, 1752; Issipile, 1752; Le Cinesi, 
1754; La Danza, 1755; L’Orfano della 
China, 1755 (ballet); Allesandro, 1755 


ballet); Les Amours champétres, 1755; L’Innocenza 
gratificata, 1755; Antigone, 1756; Il Re Pastore, 1756; 
Le déguisement pastoral, 1756; Le Chinois poli en 
France, 1756; L’Ile de Merlin, 1758; La Fausse Es- 
clave, 1758; L’Arbre Enchantée, 1759; Cythere As- 
siegee, 1759; Le Diable ad quatre, 1759; Tetide, 1760; 
L’Ivrogne corrige, 1760; Le Cadi dupe, 1761; Don 
Juan (ballet) 1761). 

Of all this long list of operas there are a few that 
show the bent of the composer toward a more normal 
representation of the stage situations and the dramatic 
characters with appropriate music. Some of these 
operas were conspicuously successful, but on the whole 
they were of very uneven merit. It took some con- 
siderable courage to break away from the comfortable 
and profitable style in which he found fame and royal 
favor, but Gluck realized more and more the need for 
better works. During the years 1747-1762 he had 
widened his experience by extended travel. Now we 
find Vienna, now in Copenhagen, now in 
Naples, always working industriously. In 1750 Gluck 
Marianne Pergin, the daughter of a rich 
Viennese banker. It is said that Gluck owed much to 
this high-minded, able woman with whom he lived in 
great happiness until the end of his days. In 1754 
Gluck received the title of “Chevalier of the Golden 
Spur” from the Pope, and always insisted upon the 
title Ritter von Gluck—the von signifying the order 
of nobility received in this way. 


him in 


married 


GLUCK’S REFORMS. 


In 1762 we find Gluck a man in middle life—he was 
then forty-eight years of age—actually dissatisfied with 
what anyone of his contemporaries would probably 
have reckoned great success. His residence in Vienna, 
where he met the leading men of culture of the time 
and where he had opportunities for the study of art, 
philosophy and science, was of immense help to him 
and made a very notable change in his attitude toward 
the opera. The man who deliberately sets out to de- 
stroy conventions, must await many obstacles, and when 
Gluck decided that the time had come to try some of 
his principles in actual writing he fully realized what 
he might expect from the public. 

In association with the cultured dramatist Raniero 
di Calzabigi he wrote the opera Orfeo ed Euridice. 
This was given on October 5, 1862, in Vienna, a not- 
able day in the history of the opera. Trouble began 
for Gluck even with the rehearsals when the orchestra 
rebelled against his exacting demands, and only the 
Emperor himself could placate the men. While this 
first work was received in Germany with some amaze- 
ment, it was liked by the public, and became very suc- 
cessful. Here, probably for the first time, the balance 
between the poetical and dramatic treatment of the 
subject and the musical treatment was effected, although 
not in any sense perfected. Means for exploiting op- 
eratic novelties in those days were exceedingly limited. 
At great trouble and great expense the score of Orfeo 
was published, but during the three years after its 
publication only nine copies were sold. 


A NEW ERA IN OPERA. 


Gluck became very popular in Vienna, and was for 
some time the music teacher of the Princess Marie 
Antoinette before her ill-fated departure for Paris. 
Orfeo ed Euridice was followed by several inconse- 
quential works, until in December, 1867, he produced 
his Alceste and in 1870 his Paride ed Elena. These 
marked a noticeable step in advance, for while the 
theories of Gluck had been advanced as 
early as 1720 in such a work as Teatro 
alla Modo, by Marcello, Gluck was evi- 
dently the first musician with sufficient 
initiative and technic to bring about an 
artistic combination of the dramatic and 
the musical in operatic performances. The 
world lacks vision, and the innovations of 
Gluck were scantily appreciated. Accord- 
ingly his next work, [phigénie en Aulide, 
founded upon Racine’s /phigénie, was pro- 
duced at the Opéra in Paris in 1774. 
Through the intervention of Marie An- 
toinette, Gluck received the long-sought 
opportunity of presenting his ideas before 


ORGAN UPON WHICH GLUCK PRACTICED, 


a French audience. His success encouraged him to 
adapt several of his former works, and also to write 
the lighter work, Armide, which was produced in 1777. 


A FAMOUS MUSICAL WAR. 


As with all innovators Gluck was confronted by 
battalions of enemies who refused to see any music 
whatever in his work. Wagner, Schoenberg, Strauss 


and Debussy were none of them reviled more hate- . 


fully than Gluck, whose music seems beautifully sim- 
ple to us to-day. About the time of the production of 
Armide Gluck’s enemies took as their champion Nicola 
Piccini, an Italian composer some fourteen years 
younger than Gluck. Piccini was a genial, loveable 
man who hated no one—least of all Gluck—and took 
no part in the merry war which the friends of the 
rivals waged. Vindictive pamphlets and articles pro- 
ceeded from both musical camps, but when Gluck pro- 
duced his great masterpiece, [phigénie en Tauride, in 
1779, even his enemies were forced to concede that its 
success was so great that their attacks became ridic- 
ulous. This opera was followed by another of less 
significance, Echo et Narcisse. His health failing, he 
returned to Vienna where he died in 1787 of apoplexy. 


GLUCK’S POSITION AS A COMPOSER. 

It will thus be seen that Gluck, like Wagner, is to 
be known chiefly as an opera composer, His other 
works consist of occasional sonatas, trios, overtures 
(then known as symphonies), some sacred music and 
a few songs, but these have long since passed into 
oblivion, His music brought him a large return, and 
he died a man of considerable means. Part of his 
fortune, doubtless, came through his marriage. In any 
event he left his wife an income of thirty thousand 
florins, several houses and much valuable jewelry that 
had been presented to him. How pathetic is the com- 
parison of his fortune with that of Schubert or 
Mozart! 

GLUCK’S ART PRINCIPLES. 

Gluck wrote quite voluminously upon his art ideals 
as did Richard Wagner, but only a small part of what 
he wrote has been preserved. Among other things he 
declared: 

“T sought to reduce music to its true function, that 
of seconding the poetry.” 

“T held the opinion that the music should be to the 
poem what the lights and shades are to a good design, 
serving to animate the figures without distorting them.” 

“T had to seek truth of coloring in writing Paris and 
Helen in the different natures of the Spartans and the 
Phrygians, by contrasting the rudeness and savagery 
of the former with the delicacy and effeminacy of the 
latter.” 

“The imitation of nature is the end which both poet 
and composer should set before themselves; that is 


ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT OF “I HAVE LOST MY EURIDICE.” 


20 


the goal after which I have striven. My music tends — 
only to greater expressiveness and to the enforcement 
of the declamation of the poetry.” 

“T have tried in Armida to be painter and poet 
rather than musician.” 

“Holding as I do the opinion that the melody in 
my operas is merely a substitute for declamation, it 
was necessary at times to imitate the native rudeness 
of my heroes; and I have thought that in order to 
maintain this character in the music, it would not be 
a fault to descend occasionally into the trivial.” 

Ernest Newman, whose Gluck and the Opera is one 
of the finest books of its class yet written, makes the 
following interesting comment upon the music of Gluck 
in comparison with that of a later epoch: 

‘We have seen how closely Gluck’s ideas and prac- 
tices were related to the current aesthetic conceptions 
of his epoch; and if we now ask the reason for the 
enormous difference between the music of the eighteenth 
century and that of the nineteenth, we shall find it in 
the great nervous change that has come over western 
Europe in the last century and a quarter. The whole 
art of the epoch of Gluck indicates a slower beating 
of the pulse in that day than in this. Great nervous 
excitation in poetry tends to give birth to the lyrical 
qualities that are more cognate with music, and while 
it may be said that in our time poetry is trying to 
reach forward into music in the last century music 
seemed to be anxious to live on the lower slopes of 
poetry. 

“The morbid world of Werther was typical of the 
new element that was being introduced into the life 
of Europe, an element of vague unrest, of boundless 
longing, of overwrought nerves and pessimistic philo- 
sophies of life; and it was in music alone, the most 
nervous and most expansive of all the arts, that this 
new spirit could find its adequate expression. Simul- 
taneously with the general intensifying of nervous life, 
there came an extraordinary development of what may 
be called the vocabulary of music, and when the later 
romantic schoo] came to its operatic work, it found 
ready to its hand the most varied and most expressive 
language that art has ever breathed through.” 

It was nevertheless Gluck who saw the emptiness of 
the operatic art of his own time, and who very cer- 
tainly laid the foundation for the greater art of the 
centurv he could never see. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

1. What was the state of opera when Gluck commenced 
his work? 

2. When and where was Gluck born? 

3. Tell something about Gluck’s early education. 

4. What was the name of Gluck’s first opera? When 
was it produced? 

5. How did the English people rank Gluck with Handel? 

6. Whom did Gluck marry? 

7. What order did Gluck receive from the Pope? 

8. Tell something of the- famous opera war in Paris. 

9. Give one of Gluck’s art principles. 

10. When did Gluck die? 


A GLUCK PROGRAM, 


A Gluck program is somewhat more difficult to arrange 
than a Chopin, Mozart or Haydn program, but by no means 
so impractical as, for instance, a LGerlioz program. Since 
most of Gluck’s music was written for the stage the piano- 
forte and violin pieces are arrangements of the operatic 
works in most instances. ‘The most popular of all arrange- 
ments is, of course, the Gavotte from Iphigénie en Aulide 
Uphigenia in Aulis), arranged by Brahms. The Saint-Saéns 
Caprice sur les airs de ballet d’Alceste, in its two-hand 
arrangement, is well known, and the arrangement for two 
pianos, made by no less than Claude Debussy, is one of the 
standard difficult pieces in the classic repertoire of the 
pianist. While quite simple in part this piece demands a 
most finished execution, and would be placed about Grade 8 
in the grading of 10. One desiring to give a program 
illustrating the various phases of the work of Gluck would 
do well to secure the Gluck Album containing 20 pieces. In 
tet ae list those pieces in this album are marked 


Grade 
1. Prano Duet. Caprice (Alceste)...... 6 
Arranged by Saint-Saéns and Debussy. 

2. Piano Sono. Aria, from Orpheus 
(CA0 eR 4 

3. VocaLt Soo. Come, for My Love Is 
Waiting, Semiramnis .............. 4 
4. VIOLIN Sono, Air by Gluck.......... 5 


5. PIANO SoLo. Virezv Aimédes jours (G, 

Ac}, -from Alceste ha, 2 ke eee 3 
6. PIANO Soro. 
th 
8 


CED Ne ee REPU RW Gs he pee yoy” 4 
- Vocat Soro. I Hare Lost My Biridice 5 
. VIOLIN Soo, Andante Amabdile...... 3 
Arranged by Ruth Laighten, 

9, PIANO Soro. Gavotte, from Iphigenie 
ON AEDS oo Kilo aussi 1. asleds tek ait 5 

10. PIANO Soro. Ballet, from Iphigenie en 
Rauride (GAs). cok ar cane ak eee 6 


TT 


MMMM 


ST 


—— 


| IN 


2 
H 


GOTTSCHALK’S PERIOD. 


Over one hundred years ago (December 25, 
1814) the Treaty of Ghent was signed and Great 
Britain and the United States closed the last 
conflict between the mother country and the 
energetic New World. A few months there- 
after (February 22, 1815), Boston, a favored theater 
for peace jubilees, held a musical festival celebrating 
the signing of the treaty. The success of this 
musical event led to the formation of the Handel 
and Haydn Society one month later. By Christmas 
of the same year the society was able to give a 
concert made up largely from the works of Handel 
and Haydn. In less than ten years the organi- 
zation had become important enough to commission 
Beethoven to write an oratorio for its use. Beethoven 
was greatly pleased, but unfortunately did not under- 
take the work. 


In Philadelphia music had also had a fine beginning, for 
as early as 1759 there had been a performance of that 
peculiar contraption known as the Beggar's Opera, and in 
1801 parts of Handel’s Messiah had been given at a public 
concert. In New York the musical work seemed to center 
at first around the church, and Ritter in his Music in 
America mentions a performance of The Messiah taking 
place in Trinity Chureh as early as 1750. (The work was 
first given in Dublin in 1742). Comic operas or more 
ploperly speaking, ballad operas, which were mere farces 
interspersed with songs were given in New York as early 
as the middle of the 18th century. The musical character 
of these performances continually improved, and by 1815 
we find that the works of Henry Bishop were becoming 
popular in America, In 1823 Payne's famous Clari, the 
Maid of Milan was presented with music by Bishop (includ- 
ing Home, Sweet Home). In 1825 Weber's Freyschiitz was 
given in New York in a somewhat garbled form. In the 
fall of the same year Manuel Garcia brought his opera com- 
pany to New York. It was made up largely of members 
of his family and his friends. His daughter, Mme. Malibran, 
was the leading soprano. Mr. Louis C. Elson goes so far as 
to call Garcia “our musical Columbus.” A number of the 
representative works of the time, notably The Barber of 
Seville, The Magic Flute and Masaniello were given in 
garbled form, 


As early as 1791 New Orleans had a regular com- 
pany of musical theatrical performers, and by the time 
of our second war with England there was a regularly 
established operatic enterprise in the Southern city. 
Louisiana had become a part of ‘tthe United States, 
thanks to good American dollars and Napoleon’s fear 
of England. But it was at heart still a Latin terri- 
tory. The spirit and traditions of France and even 
Spain were not to be removed by legal annexation. 
Indeed, the legislators continued for many years to 
conduct their debates in the French language, and to 
this day the tendency to emulate France and things 
French is very manifest. 


GOTTSCHALK’S ANCESTORS, 


The foregoing must make quite clear the fact that Gott- 
Schalk was born in an atmosphere very different from that 
of most other parts of America with the exception of the 
French sections of Canada. French ideals, French litera- 
ture, French art, French music made New Orleans the Paris 
of the new world. But there was a still greater French 
influence in the life of Gottschalk than his environment. 
His mother was one Aimée Marie de Braslé, a native of 
New Orleans, who when she was fifteen years old married 
Edward Gottschalk, who went to America from England in 
1828. The father, it is understood, had studied medicine 
in Leipsic, and had secured his degree there. 


GOTTSCHALK’S CHILDHOOD. 


Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born in New Orleans, 
May 8, 1829. He was said to have been very frail and 
very fair when a child. His personal beauty was such 
that it attracted wide attention, and he was a most 
amiable, tractable child. His sister relates that once, 
while their mother was resting at Pass Christian, she 
was startled by hearing the sound of a very attractive 
melody coming from the adjoining music room. It 
was a melody the mother had played. She knew that 
no one else but her three-year-old baby was in the 
house. Half startled and half delighted, she rushed 
to the room in which the piano stood and found Louis 
Moreau Gottschalk standing on a high stool. 

The child’s father was startled by this unusual mani- 
festation of talent, and an expert was brought in in 
the person of a French musician called Letellier. He 
mapped out a course suitable to the talent of so young 
a pupil. At the age of six Gottschalk commenced 


“Music is my bride to cheer and delight me. 
Music is my friend to amuse and make me yay. 
Music—ah! it is my angel to lead me to God,’ 


studying French and also the violin with a teacher 
named Ely. 

According to an account coming from Gottschalk’s 
sister, the boy was so remarkable that he was requested 
to play the organ during the absence of the local parish 
organist. Indeed, he was impressed into service with- 
out warning of any kind. His teacher pulled the 
stops and used the pedals, but the boy read the music 
for the entire mass at sight. At the end he was so 
exhausted with excitement and delight that after run- 
ning home to tell his mother he fell weeping hysteri- 
cally in her arms. 


A PRODIGY. 


At eight Gottschalk gave a concert in aid of a vio- 
linist connected with the French opera (M. Miolau), 
who had been attended by misfortune. The concert 
was a huge success. After the child was home safely 
tucked away in bed he was awakened by a serenading 
party composed of the violinist and his many friends 
from the opera. 


DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE, 


Although even at that time musical culture had made a 
very gratifying advance in New Orleans, it was aeAided 
that a course of study in Europe was well nigh indispensable 
for the yery talented boy. This was difficult to bring about, 
principally because the boy and his mother were so deeply 
devoted to each other. Ile was, according to all accounts, 
an unusual youth in the sense that he was constantly 
trying to do good to others. In after years his unselfish- 
ness was noted by many observers. <A stern father, however, 
settled the Buropean question by booking his passage on a 
steamer leaving New Orleans in May, 1849, By this time 
the boy had become very popular in his home city, and his 
farewell concert was attended by a very large audience. His 
departure was kept secret from his mother, and she was so 
prostrated by his going that for a time it seemed as though 
she might not survive. 


AT SCHOOL IN PARIS. 


Arriving in Paris, the twelve-year-old virtuoso was 
put ina private school conducted by M. Dussart. Tor 
the first six months he studied with Charles Hallé. 
Hallé (originally Carl Halle) was a German who had 
settled in Paris and had become the friend of Cheru- 
bini, Liszt, Chopin and others. In 1843 he went to 
England, where he worked for most of the rest of 
his life as a conductor and as a teacher. He was 
knighted in 1888. His position was such that he was 
able to introduce the wonderfully gifted Gottschalk 
to many celebrities. When Halle left for England, 


21 


AACUNTOUAURDOHOUORUOLO GROIN ANAGANIURRETE: 


} 


Gottschalk became the pupil of Camille Marie 
Stamaty, a pupil of Kalkbrenner and Mendels- 
sohn. Stamaty also became the teacher of no less 
a master than Saint-Saéns. Under this new 
teacher Gottschalk made remarkable progress, 
and it is said that Chopin took a great interest in 
his work. His teacher. in harmony was M. Maledan. 


STUDENT LIFE IN PARIS. 


Gottschalk was fortunate in having two influential rela- 
tives who introduced him into the exciting life of the Paris- 
ian capital. These were his aunt, the Comtesse de Lagrange, 
and his cousin, the Comtesse de Bourjolly. With the talents 
he soon became much sought, and his brilliant improvisa- 
tions became the talk of Varis even in the days of great 
masters of the keyboard like Liszt, Chopin and Thalberg. 
Still a child, he found time to write down some of his 
improvisations, and the result was his Ossian and the 
Danse des Ombres both of which were dedicated to his 
mother, At fifteen he was writing such pieces as Bannier, 
Savanne and Bamboula. An attack of typhoid fever proved 
an obstacle in his school work from which he did not re- 
cover for some considerable time, According to one report 
he was the pupil of Berlioz for a time, but it is not un- 
likely that he was rather his protégé than his pupil since 
the older musician took a fatherly interest in the work of 
the rising young pianist and composer. 

His association with Berlioz was so important to him that 
he declined an invitation to visit the Queen of Spain. TFre- 
quent concerts took place in the Salle Vleyel, and many 
of the musicians of the day were very enthusiastic. Natu- 
rally men of the type of Offenbach, Le Couppey, Jos. Ascher 
and many others were fascinated by the immense facility 
with which Gottschalk treated his melodic ideas. His judg- 
ment was greatly respected, and when he was little over 
sixtcen he was asked to act as one of the judges at a prize 
contest at the Paris Conservatoire. At the same time he 
gave a series of highly successful concerts in which Berlioz 
participated, 

Overwork and overexcitement 
sensitive a youth, and in 1847 he was obliged to take a 
long: rest. At every place, however, he was importuned 
to give concerts, and in Switzerland especially he extended 
his reputation very considerably through occasional appear- 
ances. In the meantime his family in America had become 
excited over the reports of his success, and his mother and 
his sisters visited him in Paris in December of the same 
year. This encouraged him immensely, and he wrote many 
of the popular salon pieces of the type which made his name 
famous during the next quarter of a century. Much of his 
time was devoted to playing for charitable purposes, as he 
was only too anxious to help others at all times. 


proved too much for so 


EARLY CONCERT TOURS. 


In 1849 Gottschalk made a tour of France, only to 
find that his pieces were played everywhere by people 
who were anxious to féte him after every perform- 
ance. His father arrived in Paris and Gottschalk re- 
turned long enough to greet him and then departed 
for an extensive tour of Spain. There he was lionized 
in a manner difficult to understand in this more mate- 
rialistic age. The king gave him the diamond cross 
of “Isabella la Catholique” and that of “Leon d’Hol- 
stein.” The sword of honor, “El Chielanero,” was 
also bestowed upon him. 

One sensational tale is told of his visit to Spain. A 
young woman who was devoted to music lay at death’s 
door. She had longed to hear Gottschalk play, but 
was unable to leave her bed. She was in humble cir- 
cumstances. The pianist heard of this and had his 
instrument taken to her room. There he played while 
her spirit departed in peace. After two years spent 
in the adulation of his Spanish admirers, he returned 
to Paris and left for New York in 1852, where he 
was greeted by his father and brothers. Gottschalk 
never saw Paris again. 


AMERICAN APPEARANCES. 


About the middle of the last century, Niblo’s Garden 
was one of the chief amusement resorts in New York. It 
possessed a large auditorium and everything from symphony 
concerts to spectacular extravaganzas was presented in that 
famous theatre. Accordingly Gottschalk’s first American 
appearance was scheduled to take place there. (Feb 11th 
1853). Some of his fascinating piano picces had gained 
some popularity in America and the concert was very 
successful. The musical criticism of the day leaned rather 
toward the spread eagle English which resounded through 
our legislative halls after the fashion of Daniel Webster. 
One of the papers in endeavoring to pile on applause of the 
exaggerated kind said, ‘Gottschalk has the dexterity of 
Jaell, the power of Mayer and the taste of Herz,” a 
criticism altogether without meaning in this day since the 
minor pianists with whom he was compared are rapidly 
becoming little more than obscure phantoms in musical 
history. In another paragraph we are told that “he dashes 
at the instrument as Murat charged the enemy.” ‘The 
New York Tribune even went so far as to intimate that 
it was very gratifying to observe a citizen of our glorious 


republic ‘eclipsing Beethoyen and certain other classical 


“old fogies.” é 

A more authoritative criticism, albeit from an impas- 
tioned musical enthusiast, comes from no less than Hector 
Berlioz, and reads: 

“Gottschalk is one of the very few who possess all the 
different elements of a consummiute pianist, all the faculties 
which surround him with an irresistible prestige, and give 
him a sovereign power. He is an accomplished musician ; 
he knows just how far fancy may be indulged in expression. 
He knows the limits beyond which any liberties taken with 
the rhythm produce only confusion and disorder; and upon 
these limits he never encroaches, There is an exquisite 
grace in his manner of phrasing sweet melodies, and 
throwing off light touches from the higher keys. The bold- 
ness and brilliancy and originality of his play at once dazzles 
and astonishes, and the infantile naiveté of his smiling 
caprices, the charming simplicity with which he renders 
simple things, seem to belong to another individuality, dis- 
tinct from that which marks his thundering energy: Thus 
the success of M. Gottschalk before an audience of musical 
cultivation is immense.” 


GOTTSCHALK AS A COMPOSER. 

Berlioz’s adulation must come as a surprise to many 
who have read for years some of the supercilious 
criticisms of lofty musicians who fail to see anything 
of merit in the very individual work of Gottschalk 
because he worked along a somewhat different plane 
from that of the more serious and more exacting 
musicians whose names are classed with the masters 
of the art. However, the day of Gottschalk is now long 
past, and we may estimate his artistic achievements as 
well as his shortcomings through the perspective which 
lends frankness to judgment, Such programs as Gott- 
schalk played would be impossible in the concert halls 
of America to-day. Compared with the great master- 
pieces for the piano, many of Gottschalk’s works would 
be declared ‘trivial and even banal by the average 
newspaper critic. This criticism would be justified 
in many cases. Even in Boston in his own day Gott- 
schalk was very coldly received, for Boston was al- 
ready saturated with the classicism of the German 
school. Regarded by the severe standards of taste 
cultivated by the musician who has rarely been away 
from his Bach, Beethoven and Brahms long enough 
to learn that fully three-fourths of the world still 
clings to pretty and catchy tunes of a more or less 
commonplace type, Gottschalk must forever remain 
beyond the pale. But for the millions who have yet 
to attain the musical heights Gottschalk and com- 
posers of his type are still the silken rope up which 
they are most likely to climb, if climb they will. Con- 
sidered broadly, music of this class holds a far more 
important place in our general musical development 
than some hyper-critical, not to say “snobbish,” cen- 
sors ever admit. However, this discussion of a some- 
what important phase in our American musical prog- 
ress must not induce the reader to look upon the music 
of Gottschalk as lacking in merit. Indeed, much that 
Gottschalk did in the way of inventing tunes and 
treating them effectively for the pianoforte was highly 
commendable. His Pasquinade, for instance, is very 
striking both from the melodic and rhythmic stand- 
point. Compared with the Ninth Symphony or Die 
Meistersinger, it becomes absurdly insignificant, but 
notwithstanding this it possesses a distinct merit as 
a composition of its class and generation. The ever 
popular Last Hope is simply a hymn-like tune with a 
decorative variation that, although superficial, is at- 
tractive, effective and distinctive. Gottschalk at least 
devised a treatment for this particular piece that gives 
an effect quite different from the conventional varia- 
tions that were being turned out in his day as fast 
as tthe labored printing processes of the time per- 
mitted. Gottschalk’s Last Hope is a fair example of 
the more stereotyped variations upon which so many 
musicians pinned their bid for present material success 
as well as their hope for immortality. 


GOTTSCHALK AS A TEACHER, 


It is hard to think of a man of Gottschalk’s temperament 
as a teacher but nevertheless he frequently had pupils. 
His charming personality made him very popular. Of all 
those who studied with him none has gained a popularity 
equal to that of Teresa Carreno, who still is loud in his 
acclaim, Those who knew Gottschalk also knew that though 
he played his own type of composition at his concerts he was 
also well acquainted with the works of the classical masters 
and played them finely. Gottschalk, despite his impassioned 
disposition, was complacent enough to realize that it was 
his own individual works written along the lines of the 
style of salon compositions then so popular that made him 
in demand. Boston deigned to hear him and tried to accept 
him despite his training and traditions but in other parts 
of the country Gottschalk excited a furore hard to realize 
in this day. Ne visited cities then comparatively small 
in size such as Albany, Syracuse, ete., and the public literally 
went wild over his playing. 


GOTTSCHALK IN LATIN-AMERICA. 


In 1856 Gottschalk sailed for the West Indies and 
found himself so delightfully received by the warm- 
blooded people of the tropical isles that he remained 
with them for some six years. There he produced 
some of his most interesting work as a composer. 
Gottschalk went from town to town like a monarch, 


His presence was the signal for a festa. That he was 
delighted is shown by his letters, which are a mixture 
of commonplaces reflecting the languid life of the 
torrid climate, here and there invigorated by quota- 
tions from Shakespeare and sauced by comparisons 
of the tropical bill of fare with the menu of Del- 
monico. Many of the things he produced were so 
trivial that he himself had them put out under the 
nom de plume “Seven Octaves,” but he did produce 
such a piece as Ojes Creoles, and we are told that he 
was more susceptible to the eyes of the lovely creoles 
than was best for his musical advancement. 


Departing from the West Indies he toured through Central 
America and Venezuela, returning to New York in 1862. 
Much to his surprise he found New York as brilliant and 
apparently as prosperous as ever despite the fact that the 
country: was in the midst of one of the most terrible of all 
wars. He gave concerts successfully and was delighted with 
the country as he found it after so long an absence, The 
papers were so enthusiastic over his playing that he was 
“sickened with the flattery.’ At other critics who failed 
to enjoy his light hearted compositions and appreciate them 
ag representatives of a special style he had favored he 
hurled, “Why will they exhaust their ten-pounders in order 
to kill mosquitos.” In Boston his reception by the public 
was more favorable, but the papers still regarded him coldly. 
He took sides with the North in its struggle against the 
South and in Montreal when he was requested to play 
Dirie, went to the piano and played an elaborate impro- 
visation around Yankee Doodle, 


RETURN TO SOUTH AMERICA. 

In 1865 Gottschalk sailed for San Francisco. Transit 
by land across the continent was far more difficult 
at that time than the little matter of the water voyage 
around South America. After a none too successful 
sojourn in California, he sailed for South America, 
where he met with immense favor in all the countries 
he visited. His houses were “sold out” eight days 
in advance and seats brought as high as twenty-five 
dollars apiece. In Brazil he became a favorite of the 
emperor, and his friendship with the Portuguese pian- 
ist, Arthur Napoleon, was also of great assistance to 
him in Rio Janeiro. In South America he won popular 
favor by his charitable tendencies and his interest 
in establishing free schools. Indeed, there are many 
who feel that his influence upon education in the 
Latin-American countries was very great indeed. A 
quotation from one of his addresses indicates a very 
broad grasp of an important principle which he en- 
deavored to get South Americans to observe: 

The popular system of education in the United States 
is that austere elaboration, which, of a child, makes suc- 
eessively a man, and later a citizen, has for its principal 
object that of preparing the individual for the use of 
liberty, that cuirass of the strong, but which frequently for 
the weak is transformed into the shirt of Nessus. In my 
country, it is not its eminent individuals, but the superiority 
of the intellectual level of the people, which attracts the 
attention of the observer; for however great Prescott, 
Longfellow, Everett, Bancroft, and many others may be, 
these noble characters are lost to view in presence of the 
enlightenment of the collective entity—the ‘‘people.” 

A Berlioz-like combination of players pleased the South 
Americans, and Gottschalk arranged orchestras with eight 
hundred performers and sometimes he had as many as 
thirty pianists. The emperor of Brazil took an active 
interest in all these ‘events.’ He even made Gottschalk 
director general of all the bands of the Army and Navy so 


that he would have as much help as he needed. Gottschalk 
rejoiced in the possession of eighty drummers, 


GOTTSCHALK’S LAST DAYS. 


On the 26th of November Gottschalk conducted a 
huge festival in Rio Janeiro. A feature of the concert 
was a “Marche Solemné” which he had arranged for 
the orchestra. It concluded with the National Hymn. 
Gottschalk had hardly recovered from an attack of 
yellow fever. The next day the worn-out musician 
tried to lead the orchestra again, but was too weak to 
do so. He gradually grew worse and died on Decem- 
ber 18, 1869. The Philharmonic Society conducted the 
funeral, and for some time his body laid in state. On 
the day of the burial, business ceased in the Brazilian 
capital and. the streets through which the cortége 
passed were lined with people for miles. He was 
buried within the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, 
of which he had been a member during his entire 
lifetime, 


AVAILABLE GOTTSCHALK COMPOSITIONS. 


The writer has made a somewhat careful survey of the 
compositions of Gottschalk, noting particularly those which 
are still in popular favor as well as some which have not 
stood this ‘survival of the fittest’? test but which are 
nevertheless of merit musically. The numerals represent 
the grade. The Union (A very elaborate paraphrase upon 
American national airs), Yankee Doodle, Hail Columbia, 
Star Spangled Banner (9); Tournament Galop (6); Souve- 
nir de la Havana (a surprisingly beautiful Habanera with 
rhythmical difficulties which put it in 8) ; Souvenir Andalouse 
(brilliant collection of Spanish themes, 5); Pasquinade 
(one of Gottschalk’s most characteristic pieces, 5) ; Creole 
Eyes (may also be obtained in duet form, 4); Orfa Grand 
Polka (brilliant piano piece of great popularity, 4). 

Radieuse Valse (7): Ricordati Nocturne (6): Marche de 
Nuit (7): Love and Chivairy (4); Morte (6) ; The Maiden’s 
Blush (4); Marguerite Valse (4); The Last Hope (7); 
Jeunesse Mazurka (4); Marche Funébre (this is an excep- 
tionally fine work even in this day, 7) ; Bamboula (interest- 
ing and characteristic, 9); Le Bannier (West Indian Negro 


22 


folk song type made into an interesting piano piece, 7) ; 
Bighth Ballade (showing Gottschalk’s aspirations toward 
a higher style); The Banjo (immensely popular, 8); The 
Dying Poet (4); Fairy Land Schottisch (trivial, 3) ; Danse 
Ossianique (6); Valse Poetique (7); Grand Scherzo (indi- 
cates Gottschalk’s possibilities had he set his aim just a 
little higher. This is a very unusual composition for its 
time, 7) ; Water Sprite (popular but trivial, 7); The Spark 
(5); The Tremulo (possibly Gottschalk's most successful 


effort, 8). 
The difficulties in Gottschalk’s works are of a purely 
technical character except in those cases where he has 


reproduced the fascinating but baffling rhythms of Latin- 
America. Space prevents us from mentioning other compo- 
sitions of merit but less renown than the above. 


AN APPRECIATION OF GOTTSCHALK BY ONE 
WHO KNEW HIM. 

Some years ago John Francis Gilder, an American 
pianist and composer of poptlar salon music, wrote 
the following appreciation of Gottschalk in the Musical 
Record. It is not given here as an accurate estimate 
of Gottschalk’s standing as an artist but rather as 
means for the present day reader to understand the 
enthusiasm with which Gottschalk was regarded by his 
contemporaries. 

“T have heard many pianists of note dating back into 
the ‘forties’ beginning with Henri Herz and extending 
through to Paderewski. Of the entire number I con- 
sider Thalberg, Gottschalk and Rubinstein the three 
greatest. Each possessed genius, originality and in- 
dividuality as a composer. Rubinstein covered a larger 
range of compositions than either of the others. Thal- 
berg created a new school of piano effects, and Gott- 
schalk had very great individuality as a composer. His 
compositions, however, require for their proper inter- 
pretation not only an almost perfect technic but a touch 
capable of the most delicate expression and also of 
great power. To be a good Gottschalk player requires 
a poetical nature. One must possess the delicacy of 
a Joseffy combined with the power of a Rubinstein to 
be able to give a correct idea of the full capabilities of 
Gottschalk’s music. 

“Although I appreciate and admire Gottschalk as 
a composer, I think he was still greater as a virtuoso. 
I have had many opportunities for hearing him play 
and imbibed inspiration from his superb performance 
of his most notable pieces. 

“When Gottschalk came upon the stage at a concert 
he always wore white kid gloves. After seating him- 
self at the piano, while slowly pulling off his gloves, 
he would look around at the audience, smiling and 
bowing to friends whom he recognized. He usually 
improvised a few chords before beginning the piece 
and the exquisite harmonic effects he produced were 
always in perfect taste and correct form. His touch 
was indescribably charming and he produced tones 
from the piano that have probably never. been equaled 
by any other performer. I never heard Liszt, but pre- 
sume that there were points of similarity between him 
and Gottschalk. Undoubtedly they were the two 
greatest pianists that ever lived. 

“It is not true that Gottschalk only excelled in the 
performance of his own compositions. I have heard - 
him play Bach fugues and other classics, one after the 
other, with the most wonderful effect. Whatever he 
played he glorified with the superb quality of tone and 
brilliancy of execution always at his command. He 
had an enormous repertoire at his command. People 
wanted to hear Gottschalk play Gottschalk. There is 
nothing very remarkable in that. When Charles 
Dickens gave readings in this country he read from his 
own works exclusively. No one criticized him for 
not reading selections from the work of other authors. 
Gottschalk’s compositions are so original and charming 
that they were, when played by him, indescribably 
effective. When he played the Last Hope he made the 
melody sound as though someone was playing it upon 
an organ with the vox humana stop drawn, and the 
delicate runs accompanying it sounded like the murmurs 
of an Aeolian harp. The effect was such that many 
in the audience would be affected to tears, 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

1. Name an important historical event that influenced 
American musical history. 
Tell something of Gottschalk’s ancestry. 
When and where was Gottschalk born? 
Under what influences did Gottschalk come in Paris? 
Tell something of Gottschalk’s tour of Spain, 
When did Gottschalk return to America? 
Tell something of Gottschalk as a teacher, 
Describe Gottschalk’s tour of South America, 


. What government position was bestowed on Gott- 
schalk in Brazil? 


10. When did Gottschalk die? 


$2. DOS OVE co bS 


SOVQOUUUTUUUETLENUTEUARSRALELERAURERANAUOGQUUUGHOOAUUEDRUONENUEEUUOOUNGLONUONANREEARRAULURORRAUOOOGRCUEOOORAOREDOCULUUUUEARLCPCAROUUURUUUHOROOUEO UNCON CLAUAGO CCAM ERICOOOEQOUCOOOOEVONOOEUOREANANLSUCCUCHURAOOOCATORUUANUOOUVOMUEUOOGOOQUORANOQUOOOOAAUU OOOO QNPOQOVORAOODOOAOOONOUOVOCLOCOOIULOTVOIOLONIQUIOOOLAVUITOOTLOTOTOLAATIDITD 


fre 


IUTUTRNEOOVOUUOTARATUTUUAUTIOTOTDNLS 


i 
5@) ni Dens SH 


<> 


GOUNOD’S PERIOD. 

THE calamitous power of Napoleon Bonaparte 
came to an inevitable end with the mad flight of 
the French troops from Waterloo, June 18, 1815. 
The great devastator had for years drained 
France of its strongest and healthiest men to 
eratify his ambition for dominion and his appetite 
for military success. Singularly enough many of the 
most famous musicians were born during this period of 
great upheaval in Europe. Charles Francois Gounod 
came into the world to witness numerous wars and 
continual political turmoil in his own country where 
the government could turn from a monarchy to a re- 
public literally over night. Nevertheless, he was an 
emissary of peace during his entire lifetime, and stood 
amazed at the continual reversion of man to the bar- 
barisms of war. Indeed, we may well ask ourselves 
whether the man who could strike terror throughout 
Europe was as important to civilization as one who 
could produce the following thought found in one of 
the letters of Gounod written in 1870, just after our 
own civil war, and just before the Franco-Prussian war. 

“Humanity yet lingers, it would seem, under the 
grim shadows of chaos, amidst the monstrosities of the 
iron age; and instead of driving their weapons into 
the earth to benefit their fellow creatures, men plunge 
them into each other’s hearts to decide the ownership 
of the actual soil. Barbarians! Savages!” 


GOUNOD’S ANCESTRY. 


Gounod’s father, Francois Louis Gounod, was born 
in 1758 and did not marry until he was forty-seven 
years old. He died when his son Charles was only 
five years old. A painter of distinguished note him- 
self, he spent much of his time restoring many of 
those great masterpieces. to be found in the lavish 
summer homes of the French monarchs at Versailles. 
His ancestors had been makers of the elegantly en- 
graved armor and weapons that added so much to the 
spectacular attractiveness of the wars of other days. 
It was Gounod’s mother, however, who developed the 
love for music in the little child who was to write 
operas and oratorios which brought his name such wide 
renown. She was the daughter of a French magistrate, 
very pious, highly cultured and was a music teacher 
for over thirty-two years. 


GOUNOD’S BIRTHPLACE. 


At the time of the master’s birth Gounod’s parents 
resided in a modest little house in the section of Paris 
near the venerable Abbey of St. Germain des Prés. 
The artist father and musician mother fighting valiantly 
against commercialism and mediocrity upon’ one side 
and poverty upon the other had a very happy home 
nevertheless. The father’s artistic conscience was so 
highly developed that he would work with extravagant 
disregard for the value of his time in order to have 
his art creations worthy. His wife in fact was com- 
pelled to argue with him to send them to market when 

; there was real need of 
money in the home. 
Cleaning his palettes and 
even finishing some of 
the pictures herself she 
gained an artistic insight 
which at the death of 
her husband in 1823 en- 
abled her to continue 
the little art class which 
had been the mainstay 
of the family. There 
were two children, 
Charles Francois and 
his brother, ten years 
older, The little mother 
struggled valiantly on 
; for years, teaching draw- 
GOUNOD S MAGNIFICENT HOME ing and music, from 

AT ST, CLOUD. early morning until late 


QQUUETORGUGUTOQOTAGHOREGUYGRNEGEOOUURUUNEOTOONOTOTEOODONONOTAW 


° 1818—The Real Gounod—1893 


SO SON eye: 


WSOC at 


“Tt 15 not labor that kills. To be 


It 1s sterility. 
fruitful is to be young and full of life.” 


night, in order to secure the -right support and edu- 
cational advantages for her sons. So beautiful was 
her maternal devotion that we may well pause for 
a while and draw back the curtain of years to look upon 
a little scene which reveals the spirit of musical en- 
thusiasm which must be at the base of the successful 
musical career of every successful student. Gounod in 
his own story of his life tells of his first visit to the 
opera together with his mother and his older brother: 

“T was nearly wild with impatience and delight. I 
remember I could not eat for excitement, so that my 


GOUNOD’S WORK ROOM. 


mother said to me at dinner, ‘If you don’t eat your 
dinner I won't let you go to the opera, and forthwith 
I began to consume my victuals, in a spirit of resigna- 
tion at all events. 

“We had dined early that evening as we had no 
reserved seats (this would have been far too costly), 
and we had to be at the opera house before the doors 
were opened, with the crowd of people who waited on 
the chance of finding places untaken in the pit. Even 
this was a terrible expense for my mother as the seats 
cost three frances and seventy-five centimes each (about 
seventy-five cents). 

“Tt was bitterly cold; for two mortal hours did 
Urbain and I wait, stamping our frozen toes, for the 
happy moment when the string of people began to 


23 


YS 


fete ® A % HS ac 
‘ =P st ; 


) move past the ticket office window. We got in- 
side at last. Never shall I forget my first sight 
) of the great theater, the curtain and the brilliant 
lights. I felt as if I were in some temple, as if a 
heavenly vision must shortly rise upon my sight. 
At last the solemn moment came. I heard the 
stage manager’s three knocks and the overture 


in ES IT 

Te SO SED SS OE RSS EOE, Ae ee 
Ae es SS a YO a ear Pata 
GSE, ES Sa eae 


SCORE OF THE “SANCTUS” FROM THE “M. ESSE SOLENNELLE.” 


began. My heart was beating like a sledge hammer. 
Oh, that night! that night! what rapture, what Ely- 
sium! Malibran, Rubini, Lablanche, Tamburini, the 
voices, the orchestra! I was literally beside myself. 
That night I never closed my eyes; I was haunted, 
‘possessed.’ I was wild to write an Otello myself.” 

Charles never forgot his mother’s sacrifices, and his 
devotion to her up to the time of his death was very 
beautiful. The following lines found in the preface to 
his autobiography are well worth quoting: : 

“If I have worked any good during my life, by word 
or deed, I owe it to my mother and‘to her I give the 
praise. She sleeps beneath a stone as simple as her 
blameless life had been. May this tribute from the 
son she loved so tenderly form a more imperishable 
crown than the wreaths of fading immortelles he laid 
upon her grave, and clothe her memory with a halo 
of reverence and respect he fain would have endured 
long after he himself is dead and gone.” 


’ 


GOUNOD’S EDUCATION. 


As a child Gounod possessed the gift of absolute 
pitch. He discovered that the dogs barked in certain 
pitches and that the street venders sang “as if they 
were crying” when they sang in the minor mode. His 
early training was almost entirely received from his 
mother who, however, did not wish to have her son a 
musician, knowing the privations which many unsuc- 
cessful artists undergo. She did, however, place him 
unter the instruction of the noted contrapuntalist 
Anton Reicha, who advised Madame Gounod to make 
a musician of the boy. Accordingly, after he had 
received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Lycée St. 
Louis, he entered the Paris Conservatorei where he 
studied with Halévy, Lesueur and Paér. In 1837, after 
he had been in the conservatorei but one year, he won 
the second Prix de Rome with his cantata Marie 
Stuart and Rigzio; and in 1839 he won the Grand Prix 
de Rome with his cantata Fernand, carrying twenty- 
five votes out of twenty-seven. 

His residence in Rome made a profound impression 
upon him and led him to make a thorough study of 
the old ecclesiastical music of Palestrina, whom he 
always compared with Michaelangelo. Of them he 
said, “Both have the same simplicity, even humility of 
manner; the same seeming indifference to effect, the 
same scorn for methods of education. There is noth- 
ing artificial or mechanical about them. The soul 
wrapped in ecstatic contemplation of a higher world, 
described in humble and submissive language the 
sublime visions that pass before its eyes. The art of 
the two masters is a sort of sacrament, whose outward 


and visible sign is but a transparent veil stretched 
between man and the divine and living truth.” 

On his way back from Rome Gounod met Mendels- 
sohn and other famous musicians, and became 
acquainted with the radical departures represented in 
the innovations of Schumann. 


GOUNOD’S LATER LIFE. 

Arriving in Paris| Gounod was appointed to the post 
of organist at Les Missions Etrangéres and apparently 
had the customary difficulties of the organist of to-day 
since the Abbé felt it necessary to remind him that 
the parishioners did not think his style entertaining— 
whereupon Gounod reminded the Abbé that he had 
come to improve the musical taste of the parishioners 
and not to consult it. Gounod, however, was devoted 
to the church and took a course in theology for two 
years. It was at one time expected that he would 
enter the priesthood. After five years of comparative 
oblivion the name of Gounod comes to the public no- 
tice through the successful performance of his Messe 
Solonelle in London. His first attempt at a three-act 
opera Sappho was produced at the Grand Opera House 
in Paris in 1851. It was not, however, a success owing 
to a weak libretto. 

In 1852 Gounod became conductor of the united male 
singing societies in Paris as well as the vocal schools. 
Gounod’s important dramatic works were produced 
during the years from 1850 to 1870, after which he 
devoted his time almost wholly to religious composi- 


tions. The dates of the best known works are as fol- 
lows: Sappho (1851), Ulysses (1852), La Nonne 
Sanglante (1854), Le Médecin malgré lw (1858), 


Faust (1859), Philémon et Baucis (1860), Le Reine de 
Saba (1862), Mireille (1864), La Colombe (1866), 
Romeo et Juliette (1867). Although Gounod was a 
thorough master of the resources of the orchestra his 
two symphonies (D and E flat), written in 1852, have 
never claimed wide attention and are generally con- 
ceded to be unimportant. 

It was, however, not until 1859 that his great success 
Faust was first produced. The master had been 
greatly attached to the poem for many years. Even 
during the glorious days at the Villa di Medici in 
Rome we find him studying the Goethe version of the 
legend. This remarkable opera was first performed in 
America in 1863. A recent book upon opera estimates 
that it is sung throughout the world more than any 
five operas combined. At the Paris Grand Opera 
Faust has been given 1,500 times, and no less than 
$30,000 has recently been spent for new _ scenery 
for this opera alone. This seems quite astonishing 
when it is remembered that the first productions 
of the opera were very far from being successful. 
Faust is said to have earned over three million francs 
for the producers. Performances of the opera were 


prevented in Rome as the government prohibited rep- - 


resentations of “his satanic majesty” on the stage. 

At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, Gounod, 
who detested fighting, sailed for England together with 
his wife and two children. He conducted concerts at 
the Crystal Palace, concerts of the Philharmonic, and 
concerts of the Gounod Chorus (later the Royal Choral 
Society). While residing in England he is said to have 
written many of the very much sung sacred songs, 
including The King of Love My Shepherd Is, There 
is a Green Hill Far Away, Nazareth, etc. 

In 1875 Gounod returned to Paris, where he had 
been made a member of the Jnstitut de France.- Here 
he devoted himself to the composition of two sacred 
works, The Redemption (first produced in Birming- 
ham, England, 1882), and Mors et Vita (first produced 
in Birmingham in 1885). 

In 1893 Gounod was engaged upon work with a 
fequiem. He was going over the score of what he 
hoped to make his greatest work and describing his 
purpose to a pupil when 
he came suddenly upon 
a particularly effective 
passage, and, in the ex- 
citement of the moment, 
fell over the score, dead 
(Oicto bier ed 1893, 
Like Mozart he had pro- 
vided his own memorial 
service. His funeral in 
Paris indicated the re- 
gard of the French state 
for its men of genius. 
Preceded by a company 
of police and followed 
by cavalry, infantry and 
artillery—an odd cortége 
—the procession included 


GOUNOD AT HIS PRIME. 


many of the most famous men of letters, science and 
art in France. Queen Victoria, always an ardent 
admirer of Gounod’s music, sent a handsome wreath 
to be placed upon his grave. 


GOUNOD’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


The existing photographs of Gounod testify to the 
fact that he avoided all tendencies to appear like a 
“genius.” His face was said to have been exceptionally 
mobile and expressive. The portraits of him do not, 
it is believed, convey a correct idea of his handsome 
and highly emotional countenance. The peculiar con- 
trast represented in two of his most famous works, 
Faust and the Messe Solonelle, symbolizes the caprices 
of his character. At heart he was imbued with mys- 
ticism and at times was deeply sensitive to the ritual 
of the church he loved so well. At other moments it 
may safely be said that the worldly spirit of Faust and 
Romeo and Juliet made itself conspicuously present in 
his character. Gounod was always a gentleman in the 
sense of being kind and considerate of others. He was 
lovable and sympathetic, but lacked decisiveness and 
great personal force. His lack of sophistry was one 
of the most distinctive traits of his character. 


GOUNOD IN OLD AGE. 


Gounod’s preference for the organ was quite pro- 
nounced and was doubtless due to his churchly tenden- 
cies. He had a fine small pipe organ in his home and 
enjoyed playing upon it, often continuing his playing 
well into the early hours of the morning. Saint-Saéns 
speaks of his piano-playing, describing him as an 
agreeable performer, but at the same time relating his 
difficulty in playing his own scores. (Gounod jouait 
du pianoforte agréablement mais la wirtuosité lui 
manquait et tl avait quelque peine a exécuter ses 
partitions.) 

Gounod’s greatest success as a conductor was with 
large choruses. He was always sincere and filled with 
a sense of seriousness of the work at hand which made 
him lose all idea of self. In Paris and in London he 
met with great applause at the choral concerts he con- 
ducted: In London he failed to win the personal 
friendship of some of the newspaper critics, and this 
led to controversies which hurt his sensitive nature 
very greatly. His symphonies, which do not rank with 
his better known works, were favorably received at 
the time of their performance in England. 


GOUNOD’S FRIENDS. 


In his autobiography Gounod mentions many friends. Aside 
from those associated, with him in his educational work, 
he speaks particularly of the French painter, Georges Ingres, 
director of the Munich Academy at Rome, whose art is 
said to hold the middle place between the classic and the 
modern, and in this way runs parallel to the musical art 
of Gounod. Gounod was also devoted to Berlioz whom he 
described as the greatest emotional influence of his youth. 
They exchanged numerous interesting letters, and Gounod 
in his monograph of the older French master said, “The 
musical works of Berlioz may earn him glory. The pub- 
lished letters will do more. They will earn him love, and 


24 


that is the most precious 
of all earthly’ things.” 
Gounod valued his friend- 
ship with Saint-Saéns and 
other contemporary French 
musicians also very highly. 
Mme. Viardot (Pauline 
Garcia) should also. be 
mentioned as a “friend in 
need’? since she was con- 
tinually seeking to promote 
the youthful works of the 
composer. 


GOUNOD’S COMPOSI- 
TIONS. 


Of Gounod’s operas the 
most celebrated are Faust, 
Romeo and Juliet, Philé- 
mon et Baucis, and The 
Queen of Sheba. Other op- 
eras are La Nonne Sang- 
lante, Le Médicin malgré 
lwi, Mireille, La Colombe, 

la Frontiere, Le Tri- 
but de Zamora, Polyeucte, 
and his posthumous op- 
eras Maitre Pierre, and 
Georges Dandin. His sacred works many believe will 
survive his operas. His best known religious compositions — 
are Solemn Mass in G, Masses for Men’s voices, The Re- 
demption, Messe Angeli Custodes, Messe Saint Cecile, Mors 
et Vita, Fourth Mass, Gallia, Le Sept Paroles de Jésus, Pater 
Noster, Ave Verum, O Salutaris, Stabat Mater, and similar 
works. Many of Gounod’s songs have been yery popular 
indeed, and such works as Nazareth, There is a Green 
Hill Far Away and the Ave Maria, written over the pre- 
lude to the first Fugue in the Well Tempered Clavichord 
of Bach, have become extremely popular. Gounod’s Auto- 
biographical Reminiscences (William Heinemann, London), 
rank with those of Berlioz in interest, although not nearly 
so comprehensive. Gounod wrote many monographs upon 
noted musicians and also a Method for the Cornet. His 
compositions suitable to the piano are limited to transcrip- 
tions of his operatic works and such unimportant pieces as 
The Funeral March of Marionette, Marche Romaine, etc. 

It is difficult to form a just appreciation of Gounod’s 
work as a whole since there are many moments of undoubted 
inspiration, continual evidences of highly developed crafts- 
manship in composition, instrumentation, ete., which have 
been greatly admired by real music» workers who know — 
the difficulties encountered in securing such effects, much 
deliciously sensuous melody, and often very decided dramatic 
force in his stage works, as well as an unmistakable spirit 
of reverence in his church compositions. However, it can- 
not be denied that there are here and there passages of 
banality or mediocrity which are difficult to associate with 
Gounod’s more inspired periods. Many of his melodies are 
extremely original and at times voluptuous. 


GOUNOD AT WORK, 


GOUNOD’S SAYINGS. 


x In art, mere realism is another word for slayish imita- 
ion. 

Labor js neither cruel nor ungrateful. . 

There is no necessity that every man’s cup should be 
the same size. The great point is that each should always 
be full to the brim. 

Nowadays the artist is no longer his own master. He 
belongs to the world at large, he is worse than its target. 
He is its prey. His own personal and productive life is 
almost entirely absorbed, swamped, squandered, in so-called 
social obligations, which gradually stifle him in that net- 
work of sham and barren duties which go to make up many 
an existence devoid of serious object and high motive. In 
a word, society eats him up. 


. 


A GOUNOD PROGRAM. 


(Suitable for the Average Club Meeting.) 
Grading 1 to 10. 


I : 
1 PIANO DuET: Dodelinette (Lullaby)........... Grade 2 
2 Sone: The King of Love My Shepherd Is 
3: VIOLIN Souo:: Nazareth .. 2. acti eee Grade 4 
4 PIANO SoLo: Faust (transcribed by Leybach)..Grade 5 
5 CHorus; Send Out Thy Light..e..s eee Grade 4 
II 
G6 PIANO Drer: Funeral March of a Marionette....Grade 4 
7 Song with violin obligato: Serenade (Sing, Smile, 
Weshae Say : Slumber)..Grade 3 
8 VioLtIn Sono: Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod)..... Grade 4 
9 Sone:-Oh Divine Redeemer.............+.-+>- Grade 5 
10 Prano Soto: Marche Romaine... ..... ese eeu. Grade 3 


11 Crorus: Unfold Ye Portals (from Redemption) .Grade 5 

A more varied program may be arranged by the intro- 
duction of the piano arrangements from Gounod’s operas. 
However, these like most arrangements are not as effective 
as solos written originally for the instrument, It should 
not be difficult to secure the assistance of a local choir 
to participate in this event. 


BOOKS UPON GOUNOD. 


Gownod,. by Henry Tolhurst; Hssay in Portraits et Sou-- 
renivs by Saint-Saéns (in French) ; Autobiographical Rem-- 
iniscences by Charles Gounod: Charles Gounod, His Life and 
Works, by Marie Anne de Bouvet; Charles Gounod, ein 
Lebensbild, by P. Voss (in German only) ; Charles Gounod 
by Hughes Imbert (in French only) ; Charles Gounod, Bio-— 
graphic critique, by L. Hillemacher (in French only). 

TEN TEST QUESTIONS. : 

1. Was Gounod influenced by the troubled political condi- 
tions of France during his lifetime? 

2. Tell something of Gounod’s artistic ancestry. : 

8. What part did Gounod’s mother play in his education? 

4, Who were Gounod’s principal teachers? 

5. Give some incidents relating to the first production of 
Faust and the future success of the opera. 


. 

6. Tell something of Gounod’s later life. . 

7. Give a description of Gounod’s personality and appear- 
ance. ; 
. 


8. Was Gounod a very accomplished performer? 
9. How did Gounod rank as a conductor? 
10. Name some of Gounod’s best compositions. 


SA wUTTUTL UT UTTOTATTUTUTTUATETONUUOVOUOTOVOUOGTIUUUUOOUOOECOECUCNONCOOOVUTOUOOUNUUOTOHLAUTELOUTOOUAUOOOUUOOCNTULOCAOOUUOLOEUVTOOORCOOOTOUTOOTOUONOOTUUUATOOUTOOOOLTTOOOTUOTTTTL TOO OT 


fre 


TU 


eC 
2 


GRIEG’S EPOCH. 

Grieg’s strong national tendencies, despite his 
conventional German training, places him at once 
in a class with Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov and 
others who have attempted to preserve the beauti- 
ful spirit embedded in the folk music of the lands 
of their birth. “The Land of the Midnight Sun” pre- 
sents many of the most strongly pronounced national 
characteristics to be found in any part of Europe. The 
location and topography of the country has much to do 
with this. In the same latitude as Greenland and spared 
the same icy fate by the Gulf Stream, Norway reaches 
from a temperate climate right up into the frozen north. 
Its west coast is a huge series of natural parapets 
broken by fjords sometimes a hundred miles in length 
and thousands of feet in depth. It is not surprising 
that a land so situated should hold its people together 
in wonderfully strong natural bonds. Although Grieg 
was born when Norway was a part of Sweden he 
always made a strong distinction between the two 
countries. 

Norway became part of Sweden in 1814, and it was 
not until the bloodless revolution of 1905 that Nor- 
way regained her national integrity. Grieg himself 
was one of the leaders in the great intellectual and 
educational awakening of the country. Bjornssen, 
Ibsen, Svendsen, Ole Olsen, Halvorson and others all 
felt the spirit of re-birth which was stimulating their 
native land, and these men were majestic enough to 
realize that the true sovereignty of the Norway of 
the future must depend upon the perpetuation of the 
wonderful spirit of the Norwegians of the past. Thus 
Ibsen in his plays aimed to preserve the Norwegian 
spirit but not without criticising the Norwegian of 
the present day, when it is was evident that he was 
forsaking the ideals of the homeland. This Ibsen did 
in a marvelous manner in his romantic play Peer Gynt, 
to which Grieg has set such beautiful music. It was 
not surprising that Grieg was influenced by the great 
intellectual activity about him. Fortunately he real- 
ized at a very early age that his greatness depended 
upon his loyalty to the spirit. of his native land. Other- 
wise he might have been a repetition of Gade, musical, 
able, and academically proficient, but writing in a 
tongue other than his own. 


GRIEG’S ANCESTRY. 
In 1745-1746, the Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, 
attempted to re-establish himself in Scotland. Over- 
whelmed by numbers and superior arms the Highland- 
ers succumbed to the English soldiers at the battle of 
Culloden. Those who were taken pris- 
oners were either hung or transported. 
Alexander Greig, a merchant of Aber- 
deen, was one of those driven out. He 
found a haven in Bergen, Norway, where 
he determined to settle. In order to 
facilitate pronunciation he changed his 
name from Greig to Grieg. His grand- 
son Alexander Grieg married Gesine 
Judith Hagerup, and their son was none 
other than Edvard Grieg, the greatest 
master of music Norway has produced. 
His father, a highly cultured and sym- 
pathetic man, was not especially musical. 
His mother, however, was a musician of 
decided ability not only as a pianoforte 
soloist but as a composer of attractive 
folk songs, some of which are said to 
retain their popularity still in Norway. 


GRIEG’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Grieg was born at Bergen, June 15, 
1843. The city of his birth apart from 
its inspiring natural location is one of 
the great intellectual centres of Europe. 
It has been said that a finer spirit of 
culture and pure democracy exists in 
Bergen than in any other old world city. 


A 


t——_— 


mae 


HDOMNUDOTOATENE 


Se ey 
EF ESE EIS 


LIS Creat > 


eS 2 DS LBS 
ES Re SERS 


“I am not an exponent s ‘Scandinavian Music’ but 
only of Norwegian. The national characteristics of 
the three peoples—the Norwegians, the Swedes and 
the Danes—are wholly different, and their music differs 
as much.’—Epvarp Griec. 


GRIEG’S EARLY TRAINING. 


Naturally Grieg’s first instruction came from his 
mother. His lessons started at the age of six. Pos- 
sibly more important even than the regular lessons 
was the fact that he had the advantage of hearing 
his mother play continuously. There were weekly 
musicals in the home, and everything possible was 
done to encourage the talent of the child which even 
at that time was manifest. The mother was by no 
means a lenient teacher. Energetic and clear-headed 
she insisted upon having her boy practice things that 
were unpleasant to him as well as those which were 
pleasant. 

At the age of twelve or thirteen he commenced to 
compose, much to the disgust of his teachers who 
regarded such youthful “indiscretions” as _ rubbish. 
Grieg had a distaste for everything that savored of 


w 
GRIEG AND MME. GRIEG AT THE PIANO. 


25 


ei ani UUAUUAERREA NOUR AN ANAAACGtONE 


SS oe ea 


ve; Poe zai 


the didactic or academic. Accordingly his school 
days were made very miserable to him by his 
materialistic teachers. His first ambition, how- 
ever, was to be a preacher, and he loved to de- 
claim imaginary sermons to members of his 
family. At the age of fifteen Grieg met that re- 


markable Norwegian musician and patriot, Ole Bull, 


who immediately took a great interest in the boy. It 
was through his influence that Grieg’s parents were 
induced to send their talented son to the Leipsig Con- 
servatory. 


THE INFLUENCE OF LEIPZIG. 


The change from the gloriously romantic surround- 
ings of Bergen to the prosaic environment of Ger- 
many’s great commercial center, Leipzig, must have 
had a peculiar effect upon a youth as sensitive as Grieg. 
Although the city still retained some of its medieval 
aspects at that time (1858), it was vastly different 
from the Bergen of the same period. Moscheles, 
Richter, Hauptmann, Wenzel, Reinecke and Plaidy 
were Grieg’s teachers at Leipzig. Grieg worked very 
industriously. Indeed he suffered a breakdown in 
1860, due to working night and day for months at 
a time.- The policy of the conservatory at that time 
was repression rather than progress. Plaidy, Richter 
and even Moscheles were men who sought to put their 
pupils ahead by holding them back through intermin- 
able technical contrivances. Grieg entered heartily into 
all the work that he did, but in after years he berated 
some of the Leipzig teachers very severely for not 
appreciating his natural talent and developing it along 


more rational lines. A little later Grieg met Gade 
whom he admired greatly. Gade had forsaken his 
national idols with the view of procuring an inter- 


In other words, he preferred to be 
more universal in his appeal. Fortunately, through the 
friendship of staunch Norwegians, Grieg was shown 
the path which later led him to such vast renown. By 
this, however, the reader should not infer that Grieg 
could not write in a manner which appealssto the 
so-called ‘‘universal audience.” Indeed there are 
numerous compositions of Grieg which show but very 
slight trace of the Norwegian. 


national audience. 


NORTHERN LIGHTS. 

It was to Ole Bull and Rikard Nordraak that Grieg 
owed his reclamation from the conventional to the 
highly flavored folk music of Norway. With Ole Bull 
he traveled over mountain after mountain becoming 
better and better acquainted with the music of his 
homeland. Nordraak, although he died 
before he became twenty-four, and 
although the greater part of his fame 
rests upon his association with -Grieg, 
was a remarkable force as a patriot and 
as a musician. Side by side they worked 
to foster Norwegian music, and it was 
to such spirits as Nordraak that Grieg 
repaired when he received communica- 
tions from Gade advising him (Grieg) 
to make his next work less Norwegian. 


GRIEG’S ROAD TO SUCCESS. 


In 1867, Grieg married Nina Hagerup, 
a most felicitous union. Mme. Greig, 
although a cousin to her husband, was 
a Dane. She possessed stich splendid 
talent as a singer that her husband was 
immensely helped by her loving assist- 
Their only child, a daughter, died 


ance. 
at the age of thirteen months. The 
Griegs lived in Christiana for eight 


years where Edvard was the conductor 
of the thriving Philharmonic Society, 
and where they met another remarkable 
Norwegian couple, the Bjérnsons. By 
this time Grieg had produced some of 
his most significant works, including the 


remarkable Violin So- 
nata, Opus 8, and the 
Piano Sonata, Opus 7. 
Liszt took a great inter- 
est in the Opus 8, and 
wrote the twenty-five- 
year-old composer a let- 
ter so eulogistic that the 
Norwegian government 
granted Grieg a_ suffi- 
cient sum of money to 
enable him to visit 
Rome again. 

When Grieg reached 
Rome he naturally 
sought out Liszt at once. 
The old master greeted 
the young composer with 
his usual warmth and 
cordiality. Grieg had some manuscript compositions 
with him and played them, much to the delight of the 
great pianist. It is interesting to note that the piano 
upon which this historical performance was given was 
of American make. For a time they played the Nor- 
wegian composer’s violin Sonata, Liszt playing the solo 
part upon the upper octaves of the piano with what 
Grieg described as “an expression so beautiful, so mar- 
velously true and singing that it made me smile in- 
wardly.” Then Liszt played for Grieg part of his sym- 
phonic poem, Tasso: Lamento e Trionfo. After this 
Liszt played a violin sonata of Grieg from manuscript 
at sight, playing both the violin and piano parts as 
though it were one composition, and even broadening 
out the work here and there according to his own 
ideas. 


PORTRAIT OF GRIEG 
LAST YEARS. 


IN HIS 


A FAMOUS COMPOSITION. 


Ibsen, the greatest dramatic genius since Shake- 
speare, invited Grieg to write music for his wonderful 
idealistic portrait of an imaginary Norwegian char- 
acter, Peer Gynt. The drama was first produced in 
February, 1876, and was a pronounced success. The 
only American performances of note were those given 
by the late Richard Mansfield, to whom great credit 
must be given for accomplishing a most intricate and 
praiseworthy artistic undertaking. The Grieg music, 
however, has become among the most popular of the 
world’s musical classics. 


GRIEG’S LATER YEARS, 


In 1877 Grieg returned to his native land and built 
a small study-house on one of the gorgeously beau- 
tiful fjords near the Hardanger Fjord. There, in a 
littie one-room study, Grieg wrote many of his most 
beautiful things. This little house soon became the 
Mecca for so many visitors that in 1855 he abandoned 
the plan and built the villa Troldhaugen (hill of the 
sprites), which remained his home until his death. 
This was located a few miles from Bergen. Grieg 
made frequent visits to the continent for the purpose 
of introducing his compositions. Everywhere he was 
received with great favor. In 1888, he played. his 
pianoforte concerto in London with the Philharmonic 
Orchestra, and thereafter made additional trips to 
England where both he and his wife became very 
popular. In 1894, Cambridge University gave him the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Music. Grieg was often 
invited to come to America by managers who had not 
been slow to observe the enormous success of his 
European appearances. Shortly before death,” one 
American manager sent him a pressing invitation to 
make a tour of this country. Grieg replied that owing 
to his very frail health he had always avoided the 
trip, but suggested -that if he could be guaranteed 
thirty concerts at two thousand five hundred a con- 
cert he would make the attempt. Of course this 
amount was prohibitive. From this it would appear 
that Grieg was a good business man. In a sense, he 
was, but he estimated that the total earnings of all 
his compositions received by him during his entire life- 
time was not equal to the royalties upon the Merry 
Widow during the performance of that opera in the 
city of Christiana alone. 

In his later years Grieg was a continual sufferer 
from asthma. In August, 1907, the effects of the dis- 
ease became more and more noticeable. He was 
obliged to go to a hospital. He realized that the end 
was near and died during the night of September 3d. 
An autopsy revealed that his sufferings for years had 
been excruciating. He was so deeply loved by the 
Norwegian people that his death fairly staggered the 
nation. The funeral was conducted by the Norwegian 
government, and took place in part in the leading art 
museum of Bergen. Fifty thousand people were in 


the vast throng which sought to attend the funeral. 
Floral tributes came from all over Europe, including a 
wreath sent by the German Kaiser. Grieg’s remains 
were cremated and buried in the side of a precipice 
near Troldhaugen. 


GRIEG’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE, 

Grieg’s appearance was very striking despite the fact 
that he was not tall. He wore his hair long. It was 
straight and very nearly white at an early age. His 
eyes were blue and very intelligent. The fact that he 
had asthma gave him a tendency to stoop. Grieg had 
a charming personality, genial, keenly intelligent, simple 
and enthusiastic. He naturally had many friends. He 
was extremely modest. Tchaikovsky described his glance 
as that of one recalling a charming and candid child. 


GRIEG AS A PERFORMER. 


Frank Van der Stucken gave Mr. Henry T. Finck 
the following account of Grieg’s art as a performer. 
“As a performer, Grieg is the most original I ever 
heard. Though his technic suffered somewhat from 
the fact that a heavy wagon crushed one of his hands, 
and that he lost the use of one of his lungs in his 
younger days, he has a way of performing his com- 
positions that is simply unique. While it lacks the 
breadth that a professional virtuoso infuses in his 
work, he offsets this by the most poetic conception 
of lyric parts and a wonderfully crisp and buoyant 
execution of the rhythmical passages.” 


GRIEG IN HIS PRIME. 


GRIEG’S PUBLIC WORK. 
Grieg’s naturally delicate constitution and nervous 
temperament prevented him from doing as much con- 


cert work as he would have done had he been a robust . 


man. Dr. Edward Hanslick, the noted Vienese critic, 
said of his performances, “His piano playing is en- 
chantingly tender and elegant, and at the same time 
entirely individual. He plays like a great composer 
who is thoroughly at home at the piano, neither being 
its tyrant nor its slave—not like a traveling virtuoso 
who also devotes some attention to composing. His 
technic is at the same time flawless, well groomed and 
smooth. Grieg need not fear to enter the lists against 
many a virtuoso; but he contents himself with the 
finished execution of lyrical pieces and dispenses with 
capering battle horses.” 

Those who heard Grieg play such pieces as his But- 
terflies and To Spring have said that he seemed to 
create an atmosphere about them that was like the 
humming of bees or the gentle wafting of zephyrs. 
Once the piece was started, it seemed to rise in the 
atmosphere like a bird, and soar gently but surely, 
never alighting until the end. When he played in Lon- 
don crowds gathered around the doors as early as 
eleven o’clock in the morning and waited until their 
opening in the evening. There was only one Grieg and 
they were not going to miss hearing him. 


26 


WHAT TCHAIKOVSKY THOUGHT OF GRIEG. 


The great Russian master was one of the most en- 
thusiastic admirers of Grieg. He delighted to read his 
music and felt that each piece contained some new and 
characteristic message. He said, “Hearing the pieces 
of Grieg we instinctively recognize that it was written 
by a man impelled by an irresistible impulse to give 
vent by means of sounds to a poetical emotion, which 
obeys no theory or principle, is stamped with no im- 
press but that of vigorous and sincere artistic feeling. 
Perfection of form, strict and irreproachable logic in 
the development of his themes are not perseveringly 
sought after by the Norwegian master. But what grace, 
what inimitable and rich musical imagery. What 
warmth and passion in his melodic passages, what teem- 
ing vitality in his harmony, what originality and beauty 
in the turn of his piquant and inglorious modulations 
and rhythms, and in all the rest what interest, novelty 
and independence! If we add to all this that rarest of 
qualities, a perfect simplicity far removed from all 
affectation and pretence to obscurity and far-fetched 
novelty, etc., etc. 


BOOKS ABOUT GRIEG. 


The books about Grieg are comparatively few, 
although there are numerous magazine articles and 
contributions to collective biographical works. Daniel 
Gregory Mason’s rom Grieg to Brahms, and E. Mark- 
ham Lee’s Grieg were the best works upon the com- 
poser until the appearance of the incomparable bio- 
graphy of Mr. H. T. Finck, the well-known American 
critic who knew Grieg well, and who corresponded 
with him frequently during the preparation of Grieg 
and His Music. This is one of the most interesting 
and instructive works of its kind, and has been used 
as the basis for much of the present monograph. 


A GRIEG PROGRAM. 


Grade 
1. Prano Duet, Peer Gyntl.-- see ee 5: £07, 
2. Sons, I Love Thees..:.s. seen 5 
3. Prano Soto, Papillon, Opus 43, Nos Tes.e.eeeeeee 7 
4. Viotin Soo, To Spring... 2. eee 5 
5: Prano Soro, Wedding Day: . 55. see 6 
6. Femare CHorus, In: Kahiiel oa. 5 
7. Prano Duet, Norwegian Dance............-.+.6. 3 
8 Sone;.Solvetg’s: Siong 2-2: ss site eee 4 
9. Prano Soto, Minuet, From Sonata, Op. 7.........5 
10.. Viorin Soto, Ase’s! Death... ee 4 
11. P1ano Soxo, March of Dwarfs... 4 
12. Mate Cuorus, Landsighting..............+.2. Brahe) 


GRIEG’S COMPOSITIONS. 


Grieg had the delightful faculty of expressing his 
thoughts with harmonies refreshingly new and often 
exceedingly original. Many of his themes have been 
traced indisputably to Norwegian folk music sources, 
but it remained for Grieg to supply the harmonic back- 
ground through which these compositions might be 
presented to the world in all their delicious verity of 
Norse flavor. He expanded the resources of harmonic 
usage far more than those of his own time realized. 
Twenty-six of Grieg’s opus numbers are for piano 
solo. Many of these opus numbers include collections of 
numerous short piano pieces. His best known orchestral 
works are the Peer Gynt Suites. Among his choral 
works Before the Cloister Gate, Landsighting and Olaf 
Trygvason are perhaps 
the most popular. Of 
Grieg’s one hundred and 
twenty-five songs only 
a very few have become 
popularly known. Of 
these Ich Liebe Dich, 
The wan Song and 
Solveig’s Lied are the 
most liked. It may be 
noticed that here is a 
composer who has writ- 
ten no symphonies nor 
any operas yet one who 
ranks with the foremost 
masters. Illness pre- 
vented him from becom- 
ing a dramatic composer. 


GRIEG AND SVENDSEN. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. How did Grieg’s aim differ from that of Gade? 

2. Tell an interesting fact about Grieg’s ancestry. 

3. When and where was Grieg born? 

4. What famous violinist took an interest in Grieg? 
5. Whom did Grieg marry? 

6. Name Grieg’s most famous dramatic composition. 

7. When did Grieg die? 

8. Tell something of Grieg as a pianist. 

9. Describe Grieg’s personal appearance, 

10. Name five compositions of Grieg. Did Grieg write 


any operas? any symphonies? 


CAUVGUUTTVOUUUITUNONO0UNQUNNOVEINONOUINEOTONUGQUUCUOOOVONRQGQUQQUCULQUQQQQDUUCNQQEQDNETCQ0QUOUQEHOQQENQUU00N089N000000Q0Q0U0L000UNREQNIUGLQUGRNGTOTENOLGDUUOQNCAOOGEIOAGREGDORCACRRODLICIOONTUQDLUAQDO100NUN0CU0RQUVLNACUUCQCHQQTEROUOTOEUGAREODENOOLONUPOGUDRCQGOUONUOOUNONOPQIONQNOQRUOORUOGDOOQOOONNDOOPCGOEONOLUGGVEPONARYUUROTOUUOOVOQ00QVUOTQU OQ QROROD NEU LS 


| 


7 
— 
= 
— 
= 
= 
= 
= 
= 
= 
S 
= 
= 
= 
= 


E il 


IN GA 


———S 


St 


ven 


rm 


HANDEL’S PERIOD. 

Arter the close of the Thirty ‘Years’ War in 
1748, a war which “tore the heart out of Europe,” 
the different Continental countries made some 
attempt at peace under many regal despots. Only 
in England was political liberty making any 
notable progress. The spirit of conflict, how- 
ever, was still in the air, and when Handel was 
born in 1685 the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
was arousing a feeling of unrest in many parts of 
Europe. Bach and Handel, who both came into the 
world in the same year, in towns separated by only 
a few miles, are looked upon by many critics as the 
capital stones of the musical art that preceded them 
and by others as the plinths of a musical art to come. 
Both seemed remote to us, largely because music is 
a modern art. Yet Handel was still living when our 
own Benjamin Franklin (at the age of 41) visited 
London as the representative of the Colony of Penn- 
sylvania. Indeed, the great Shakespeare had been 
dead nearly one hundred years before the world com- 
menced to recognize the art of George Frederick 
Handel. Music was still dependent quite as much upon 
royal patronage as upon private support. The garish 
splendor of the great courts appealed to Handel, and 
his music is, for the most part, indicative of his love 
for pomp and splendor, while that of Bach represents 
a kind of modest sincerity, reflecting the serene in- 
dustrious modest life of the great master of Eisenach. 


HANDEL’S ANCESTRY. 
Handel’s name in the German form employed by his father 
is properly Hindel (‘a sounds like “a” in day’), 
When Handel was in Italy he used another form of his 


name, Hendel. When he went to England, however, he 
adopted the form Handel with the pronunciation now 


The name is derived from a Ger- 
man form (l[liindeler) signify:ng a salesman or merchant. 
Handel's grandfather was a coppersmith. His father was a 
barber, who through great ability rose to the position of 
surgeon to Duke Augustus of Saxony. He married his sec- 
ond wife when he was sixty-two years of age. She was 
the daughter of a provincial pastor. She became the mother 

‘of two daughters and two sons, but Handel was the only 
surviving son. < 


commonly given to it. 


HANDEL’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Halle, prior to the birth of Handel, had once been an im- 
portant center of art, musie and drama. With the death 
of the reigning Duke Augustus in 1680 and the cessation 
of the patronage of the arts the city gradually became 
little more than the conventional commercial center. Han- 
del was born in Halle, at No. 4 Am Schlamme, on Febru- 
ary 23d, 1685. 


HANDEL’S EARLY TRAINING. 


The records of Handel’s youth are alive with in- 
teresting anecdotes. We know that his father desired 
to have him become a lawyer, and it is said that he 
even went to the extreme of burning up the child’s 
musical toys, drums, trumpets, etc., when he found 
that the boy had a remarkable fondness for music. 
The pretty little juvenile romance of the talented child 
smuggling a clavichord into the garret so that he might 
practice in peace is, so far as our investigation goes, 
founded on fact. We also learn that the little boy ran 
after the chaise in which his father was making a trip 
to visit the Duke of Saxe-Weisenfels, and when some 
distance from home was picked up by his protesting 
parent and taken the remainder of the forty-mile 
journey. At the court of the Duke he won the inter- 
est first of the members of the Duke’s orchestra, and 
then of the Duke himself, who persuaded the father 
to let the son take up the career of a musician, 

Handel then became a pupil of Zachau, organist at 
the Liebfrauenkirche. Zachau was a young, able musi- 
cian, who instructed the boy in counterpoint, fugue, 
canon, organ, harpsichord, violin and the oboe (Haut- 
boy). Zachau was Handel’s only regular teacher al- 
though be benefited much from association with other 
musicians of note. For a considerable length of time 
the boy was obliged by his master to turn out a long 
choral work every week. 


. SS 
AMDT 
CITT hse TT TT TTT] 


23 VRS Ye 
CO ah 


fA: 
nt OS SAE ED AB. Pe oT ER ROSS aah PS PSS 
CT FE GOT Be SS RT RS S21 TY CR | RY OSG BA a Ld SS 
Be eer SRLS EH AN" 


COME ee ae SCanvet 


HANDEL’S ACTIVE YOUTH. 


Whatever Handel may have missed by not becom- 
ing a lawyer he certainly did not sacrifice variety or 
activity. His entire life was one of constantly chang- 
ing vicissitudes. Told merely as a chronology of 
events it would require many pages and in the pres- 
ent chapter of the Master Study series we have space 
only to mention the main events. In 1696 we find 
Handel in Berlin meeting Ariosti and Buononcini, who 
in his later life were to meet him again in London. 
In 1702 he received the appointment of organist at 
the Cathedral in Halle, at the same time entering the 
famous University. The next year he went to the 
well known German Opera House at Hamburg. In 
a short time he succeeded the director, Keiser. There 
he met as contemporaries Telemann and Mattheson. 
A strong friendship sprang up between the latter and 
Handel. At one time they went to compete for the 


THE WATER MUSIC. 


Handel is seen in the foreground with King George. 
background is a barge containing a company of musicians. 


In the 


27 


SC 


post of organist at Litbeck. One of the conditions 
was that the victor should marry the none too 
attractive daughter of the retiring organist. The 
young men concluded that this requirement was 
slightly excessive and returned home. 

One of the most exciting episodes in Handel’s 
long and troubted life was a famous quarrel 
between him and Mattheson which came near having fata]! 
results. One of Mattheson’s operas was extremely pop- 
ular. It had to do with the time old love of Antony and 
Cleopatra. Mattheson played Antony, and after his death 
upon the stage it was his custom to return to the orches- 
tra and conduct the performance at the Harpsichord. 
Handel objected to this and a duel resulted. Matthe- 
son’s sword was broken on a button in Handel’s coat, 
barely in time to save his life. 


Handel’s first opera Almira was produced in 1705 at 
Hamburg. <A second, Nero, soon followed. These 
were succeeded by two more operas entitled Daphne 
and Florinda, 1705 found Handel in Italy. In Naples 
he met with great success and produced several of. his 
works including the operas Rodrigo and Agrippino 
the serenade Acis e Galatea, Polifemo and the religious 
works Dixit Dominus, Laudete Pueri, the oratorios 
Resurresione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, 

When Handel returned to Germany in 1710 he ac- 
cepted the post of Capellmeister to the Elector of Han- 
over (who became George I of England) with the un- 
derstanding that he might accept an enticing offer to 
visit England. This he did at the end of the same 
year. Early in the following year his opera Rinaldo 
was produced in London with enormous success. The 
spectacular side of the production given the work 
pleased Handel immensely, particularly one act in 
which live singing birds were introduced partly con- 
cealed behind the canvas foliage. This opera contains 
the famous air, Lascia ch’io pianga, which is still sung 
by many school children in America, In six months he 
was obliged to return to his post in Hanover. Lon- 
don, however, proved so attractive that he went back 
in 1712. When George became King of England he 
naturally felt annoyed because Handel had vacated 
his post in Germany. Peace was restored through the 
famous Water Music which Handel wrote for an 
aquatic féte. These pieces were performed by players 
seated in a boat which followed that of the King in 
its procession down the river Thames, This pleased 
George I and Handel was given a grant of two hun- 
dred pounds a year, 

In 1715 Handel wrote his only German oratorio, 
which was a Passion, and bore very slight resemblance 
in style to his later works. In 1716 Handel became 
the Chapel-master to the Duke of Chandos, who lived 
in a most lavish manner, maintaining a chapel with 
a large orchestra and chorus. Here Handel: produced 
two anthems, two Te Deums, his first English oratorio, 
Esther, a serenade and a book of pieces for the 
clavecin (written for his pupils, the daughters of the 
Prince of Wales). 

In 1720 he undertook the direction of the Italian 
Opera in London. His opera Radamisto was so suc- 
cessful that jealous enemies immediately arose, among 
them Buononcini and Ariosti, who strongly resented 
the German composer’s intrusion in their particular 
field. Some bungling musical diplomat conceived of 
the idea of having a composite opera written by the 
three composers. The first act was by Ariosti, the sec- 
ond by Buononcini and the third by Handel. The 
popular verdict seemed to be in favor of the third act. 
It was even said that Ariosti hired another musician 
to write his act. Naturally the attitude of the public 
added fuel to the flames and this marked the outbreak 
of one of the most hotly contested operatic wars in 
the history of music. Indeed the struggle became the 
thing of the hour and one of the contemporary poets 
(John Byrom) wrote the following memorable jingle 
On aitr 


THE BLIND HANDEL BEING LED TO THE ORGAN. 
Some say compared to Buononcini 
That Mynheer Handel's but a Ninny; 
Others aver that he to Handel 

Is scarcely fit to hold a candle. 
Strange all this difference should be 
'Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee. 


When Handel entered into partnership with Heid- 
egger in 1729 the operas at the King’s Theatre came 
under his direction. His productivity was astonish- 
ing, and even though he occasionally repeated himself, 
it was only because his operas followed in such rapid 
succession that he could not well do otherwise. This 
connection, however, was made eventful through the 
actual production of Handel’s first English oratorio, 
Esther, which was given on the stage with scenic ef- 
fects but without action. 

Handel's temper was quite hot enough to provide 
a long succession of cauldrons of hot water for him. 
In fact, he was in continual trouble with his partner, 
his singer and his patrons. In 1734 Handel withdrew 
from the King’s Theatre and permitted his rivals to 
occupy the house. He then undertook to manage a 
theatre at Lincoln in the Fields, and later Covent Gar- 
den, resulting in failure that led the way to his bank- 
In the same year he suffered an attack of 
paralysis. In 1741 he determined to devote his declin- 
ing years to the composition of sacred music. Com- 
mencing with Saul and Israel in 1738, Handel wrote 
a long series of oratorios which have done the most 
to preserve his name for future generations. In 1742, 
while on a visit to the Duke of Devonshire, Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland, he produced his famous ora- 
torio The Messiah in Dublin (April 13th, 1742). At 
the first performance in 
London (March 23d, 
1743 the entire audi- 
ence, including the King, 
was so impressed with 
the Hallelujah Chorus 
that it rose in a body, 
thus starting the custom 
which obtains to this day 
in many cities. In 1752 
the disease which re- 
sulted in cataract com- 
menced, and MHandel’s 
latter days were spent in 
darkness. He died April 
14th, 1759, and was 
buried in Westminster 
Abbey. Towards the end 
of his life his music be- 
came much in vogue and 


ruptcy. 


HANDEL AT THE KEYBOARD. 
From a painting by Thorn- 


nill in Cambridge University. s 
This portrait shows Handel jis fortunes were bet- 
without his wig. 

tered. 


HANDEL’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


H. R. Streatfield, whose biography of Handel is probably 
the best published in English, gives the following pen por- 


trait of the famous musician: “TIlandel was large and 
portly. His awkward gait, his features. somewhat severe 


in expression until illuminated by a sudden smile—all these 
are as familiar to us as they were to his contemporaries. 
The character of the man is more difficult to come by. Like 
most men of exceptional power and grandeur of mind, he 
was too far above his contemporaries for them to realize 


his greatness. They saw only the superficial aspects of his 
personality, and the little foibles or eccentricities of his 
character. Judging him by their own standard, they found 
him wanting in many of the minor graces that smooth the 
trivial round of life. He had a hasty temper, and habitually 
swore like a trooper. His manner was often rough and 
peremptory but he never bore malice. He cared little for 
the world of civil formality and was happier at home with 
a few chosen friends about him than in dancing attendance 
upon empty-headed aristocrats whom he could not but 
despise in his own heart. This independent behavior often 
stood in the way of his success, but he never yielded an 
inch where dignity and self-respect were concerned. He was 
said to be ignorant and dull outside the affairs of his own 
profession—a charge often brought against those whose 
tastes happen not to coincide with the fashionable follies 
of the hour. His education had been far more complete 
than was then usual in the case of musicians, and his ad- 
Mirable taste in art matters is mentioned by several con- 
temporaries Who were qualified to judge. His amiable bi- 
ographers have unanimously attempted to persuade them- 
selves and their readers that Handel was a pious man. 
Everything on the contrary goes to prove that his religion 
was eminently of the type which. as Disraeli observed, all 
sensible men profess, but no sensible man talks about:” 


HANDEL’S FRIENDS. 


Withal, Handel was too individual to have many 
friends close to his heart. He knew the foremost men 
of his time in England. In 1726 he became naturalized 
as an Englishman and immediately received from the 
King the appointment as Composer to the Chapel 
Royal. Handel never saw Bach, although the latter 
journeyed to Halle from Eisenach especially to see 
him. Handel had unfortunately departed upon the day 
previous for England. In 1729 Bach invited Handel 
to visit him in Leipsic, but Handel was then at the 
bedside of his mother, then in her last illness, and 
could not leave. Charles Burney, the noted English 
critic, saw him many times and has left some inter- 
esting accounts of him. Lord Burlington took a great 
interest in Handel and frequently gave him opportu- 
nities to meet famous men at his palace. There he 
met John Gay, the author of the Beggars’ Opera, who 
also wrote the libretto for Handel’s Acis, Both George 
I and George II of England were strong supporters of 
Handel and valued his friendship despite his testiness 
and frequent indiscretions. Gluck revered Handel 
greatly. In 1747 he called upon him, despité the fact 
that Handel had said of Gluck, “He knows no more 
counterpoint than my cook.’ Handel’s cook, however, 
was a bass singer of great proficiency, and Gluck’s 
operas at that time were somewhat trivial. The name 
of Charles Jennens is closely associated with that of 
Handel because it was he who arranged the libretti 
for Handel’s oratorios Saul, Messiah and Belshazzar. 
He was greatly dissatisfied with the musical setting 
that Handel gave to his work The Messiah, saying 
that there were some parts that were unworthy of 
Handel, but much more unworthy of the “Messiah.” 
John Miattheson, Handel’s brilliant contemporary, was 
at times a friend and at times an enemy. He did not 
hesitate to circulate calumnies about him. Alexander 
Pope knew Handel well and it is said by some that 
the libretto of Esther is from his pen. Handel knew 
both Alessandro -Scarlatti and his son Domenico. In 
Venice, Handel attended a masked ball and played at 
the harpsichord. Domenico Scarlatti who was present 
declared that none other than the Saxon composer 
or the devil could play like that. Handel removed his 
mask and showed that he was at least not the devil. 
Later the younger Scarlatti and Handel met in a con- 
test at the keyboard in the home of Cardinal Otto- 
boni. The decision was that while they were equal at 
the harpsichord,, Handel was the superior at the organ. 
Agostino Steffani, musician, diplomat and bishop, one 
of the most remarkable men of his age, knew Handel 
and thought highly of him. In turn Handel was ac- 
cused of being influenced by the style of Steffani. 
Among the celebrated singers who knew Handel, often 
to their sorrow, were Carestini, a famous male alto, 
and Farinelli, a male soprano who had the reputation 
of being the foremost singer of his time. The latter 
quarreled with Handel and later went to Spain, where 
his wonderful singing is said to have cured King Philip 
V of melancholy. In any event, the King retained him 
as his advisor at a salary of 50,000 francs a year. 
The episodes surrounding the rivalry of the two fa- 
mous sopranos, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Hasse, 
provided London with much amusement in their day. 
Upon one occasion it is reported that Handel grasped 
Cuzzoni around the waist and threatened to throw her 
out of the window if she refused to sing as he di- 
rected. The rivalry between the two factions of ad- 
mirers often rose to the riot point, and many ‘“dis- 
graceful” disturbances were witnessed in the theatres. 
Senesino was a male mezzo-soprano who figured largely 
in Handel’s career as an operatic impresario. Of all 
Handel’s friends, Joh. Christopher Smith (Schmidt), 
his amanuensis, was closest to him in his latter years. 
To him Handel willed his scores and his harpsichord. 
Handel took an exceptional interest in the Foundling 


28 


Hospital in London, and through him large sums of 
money were brought to the institution. He also do- 
nated a “fair copy” of his oratorio The Messiah, now 
one of the most valued manuscripts in the great city. 


HANDEL’S WORKS. 


In 1856 a society was 
formed in Germany for 
the purpose of furthering 
the publication of the 
complete works of Handel 
(German __— translations) 
with pianoforte accompani- 
ment. Among those who 
were members of the so- 
ciety were Crysander (an 
indefatigable editor of 
Handel's works), Franz, 
Meyerbeer, Modscheles, 
Rietz, Hauptmann, 
Liszt and others. The so- 
ciety reqeived splendid 
financial assistance from 
the King of Hanover and 
from the Prussian govern- 
ment. The edition includes 
one hundred yolumes and 
there have been many sup- 
plements. In this way the 
reader may form an idea 
J f of the immensity of Han- 
del’s musical output. He wrote forty operas and thirty 
oratorios. His most noted works are the oratorios: Passion 
according to John (1704), Il trionfo del tempo e del dis- 
ingano (1707), La Resurrezione (1708), Passion Oratorio 
(1717), Esther (1720), Deborah (1733), Athaliah (1733), 
Saul (1738), Israel in Egypt (1738), Messiah (1741), 
Samson (1741), Joseph (1743). Hercules (1744), Bel 
shazzar (1744), Occasional (1746), Judas Maccabaeus 
(1746), Alerander Bclus (1747), Joshua (1747), Solomon 
(1748), Susanna (1748), Theodora (1749), Jephtha (1752). 
Among Handel’s operas there are none that are given in 
this day except in concert form. The best known were 
Almira (1704), Rodrigo (1707), Agrippina (1708), Rinaldo 
(1710), Radamisto (1720), Scipione (1726). Aleina (1735). 
Serse (1738), Deidamia (1741). His odes, Alerander’s 
Feast (1736), St. Cecilia’s Day (1739), and L’Allegro, Il 
Penseroso ed il Moderato (1740), were extremely popular 
in their day, as were his five serenatas (a name employed 
by Handel to designate a pastoral cantata). His instru- 
mental compositions although not so comprehensive as 
those of Bach form a 
more special investigation and ponular appreciation than 
is given to them in these davs. The predominating char- 
acteristic of Handel's mus‘e is bigness, grandeur and breadth 
of style rather than profound intellectual depth. Many of his 
compositions are marked by emotional characteristics of 
exceptional power. Handel was particularly fond of writing 
music for special cccasions as his Water Music, his For- 
est Music and his Fireworks Music indicate. 


A HANDEL PROGRAM. 


HANDEL'S BIRTHPLACE IN 
HALLE, 


1 Duet: Largo: from Nerves. ..4.....00 ....Grade 4 

2 Piano Soto: Gavotte in B Flat............ Grade 3 

3 Vocat Soto: I know that my Redeemer Liveth 
Grade 6 


4 Vocat Soto (with violin obligato) 
Lascia ch’io Pianga......Grade 4 
5 PIANo Soto: Harmonious Blacksmith......Grade 6 
6 Cuorus: O Sacred Head Now Wounded 
(arranged by Bracket) Grade 4 
7 Duet: See the Conquering Hero Comes....Grade 1 
8 Piano Soto: Gorrente:...eeeeeeeee ....Grade 3 
9 SARABANDE: Sarabande: ,.....-. eee Grade 3 
Prelude (Suite No. 14 in G)..Grade 3 
10 VocaL Soto: Angels Ever Bright and Fair 
from Theodova...... Grade 4 
11 CuHorus: Hallelujah 


BOOKS UPON HANDEL, 


Life and Works of Handel, by Mrs. Julian Marshall; 
Life of Handel, by C. F. A. Williams; Handel, by R. A. 
’ 


Streatfie'd: Handel, by William H. Cummings. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

1. Name a great American Statesman who was a econ- 
temporary of Handel. 
. When and where was Handel born? 
. State an interesting incident in Handel’s youth. 
Who was Handel's first teacher? 
Tell of a famous duel Handel fought as a young man. 
When did Handel go to Italy? 


_ ~ Which famous opera of Handel was the first to win 
him fame in London? 


8. Why did Handel abandon opera to compose oratorios? 


9. What is Handel's most famous work? Tell some- 
thing about its first performances. 


10. When did Handel die? Where is he buried? 


NO oH wb 


The works of Handel have always been deservedly 
popular in America. Our second oldest musical society, 
The .Handel and Haydn Society, in Boston, was 
founded in 1815. While Handel festivals and com- 
memorations had been held in England some twenty 
years before, our American organization points with 
pride to being the oldest existing organization bearing 
the name of Handel, antedating by forty years the 
Handel-Gesellschaft of Leipsig and by nearly thirty 
years the old Handel Society of London which dis- 
solved in 1848. The performances of the Messiah by 
the New York Oratorio Society and the performances 
at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, have been justly 
famous. 


ee 


Hiller, ~ 


large collection and merit much | 


OTT TTT TTT 


ay : 


: L@ Sal NS eRe Spee | qm, 


country villages of Europe. Many, indeed, stand 
to-day very much as they stood nearly two hun- 
dred years ago. As we observe their rustic 
simplicity we can imagine how much more 
provincial must have been the life in such a little 
town as Rohrau, in Austria, at that day when the 
-Postillion took the place of the telegraph and likewise 
that of the newspaper. Rumors of war were long in 
coming. Culture was slow in developing. The great 
concern of the townspeople at that day was doubtless 
to be let alone. They cared little whether the Turks 
were attacking Vienna so long as a Sobieski was there 
to save the city. Whether the emperor’s son succeeded 
to the throne of Spain was of far less importance to 
them than their own tranquillity and prosperity. Bat- 
tles might wage furiously in France if peace prevailed 
in Croatia. It sufficed them to know that Austria was 
in the fore-front of the nations of the world and that 
somewhere in the empire great men were paving the 
way for an education and a culture that some day was 
to make life easier and happier for the people. 


HAYDN’S ANCESTRY. 


There has been a surprising amount of dispute regarding 
the exact ancestry of Haydn. Some have claimed that he 
was originally of German stock, but the extensive investiga- 
tions of W. A. Hadow, M.A., point to the fact that while 
his father might have been of Slav origin, his mother was a 
Croat. The name was doubtless Hajdin in its original form. 
This name and the derivatives Hajdenic and Hajdinoviec are 
still heard in Croatia. aydn’s father was a wheelwright 
and also the Parish Sexton. He played the harp, but “did 
not know a note of music.’”’ Haydn’s mother was a typical 


Hausfrau of the peasant class. She had been a cook in 
the family of a nearby count, and although plebeian by 
birth was said to have had refined tendencies. Haydn was 


always greatly devoted to her. 


HAYDN’S BIRTHPLACE, 


Haydn was born at Rohrau, near Priigg, in Austria, 
Hungary (Croatia). The house in which he was born has 
been washed away by floods and since that time two other 
houses, said to be replicas of the original, have been erected 
upon the site. The district in which Rohrau is located is 
“low and damp” and quite different from that inspiring 
Austrian city of Salzburg in which Haydn's friend and pupil, 
Mozart, was born. Haydn was inclined to boast of his 
humble origin and was delighted when he was called upon 
to view a monument to him erected near his native town. 


HAYDN’S EARLY TRAINING. 


In Haydn’s home there was much impromptu singing 

when his father played the harp. Little Haydn is said 
‘to have imitated the fiddling of the local schoolmaster, 
using instead of a violin a stick of wood. One day a 
relative visited the Haydns and was astonished to sec 
how well the little fellow kept time upon his make-be- 
lieve fiddle. The relative happened to be a_ school 
teacher and insisted upon taking the child away with 
him in order to oversee his early musical training. Ac- 
cordingly, Haydn set out with his new found friend, 
Johann Mathias Franck, and settled down at Hainburg 
on the Danube. Franck taught him to play the violin 
and the harpsichord and at the age of six Haydn was 
sufficiently advanced to sing masses in the village 
church. Once he was asked to play a drum in a local 
procession. He was too tiny to carry the instrument, 
and accordingly it was tied to the back of a hunchback 
who marched ahead of him. 

In 1740, Reutter the Capellmeister of St. Stephen’s 
Cathedral in Vienna, visited Hainburg and after hear- 
ing Haydn sing, insisted upon taking him back to Vien- 
na to become a chorister in the famous church. There 
Haydn became a member of the Choir School (Can- 

torei) founded in the early fifteenth century. Here he 
was to receive very meagre board and lodging, but a 
common school education, plus special training in vio- 

lin, clavier, singing, Latin and religion. As Haydn’s 

mother was very anxious to have her son become a 
priest the latter was very gratifying to her. Haydn was 
neglected and abused by Reutter. The composer de- 
‘clared in later life that he had had no more than two 
lessons in composition from the severe Capellmeister. 


<a T < = 
se Summ XZ SS 
( 


en 


HOVGRYANTORTTOGWORUARODUONONNGROLGUAORGAOUOOUVOREDOORUONOOEVOONLGNOTOUVOVONOVODVODANONANONODORUOGDDNOUNUQDOQUANNQOONONUANIN) 2 @ 


E REAL HAYDN—1809 : 


> TES 1S 
De Been 


“It is the air which is the charm of music 
and it is that which is the most difficult to 
produce.” 


However, the routine work of the choir school and 
the constant desire to hear better music and make bet- 
ter music led the boy to study by himself. There is 
no better example of self-help than the struggles of 
little Haydn at this time. He begged six florins from 
his father and with them he purchased Fux’s 
Gradus ad Parnassum and Mattheson’s V’olkommener 
Capellmeister. It would be difficult to imagine two 
duller, drearier, drier musical text-books than these. In 
his spare moments he found time to study these works 
so thoroughly that he produced results which surprised 
many. 

Haydn was a youth of great vitality and high spirits. 
The story is told of Haydn cutting off the pigtail of 
one of the other boys in the choir. Haydn was now 
seventeen years old and his voice had changed. Ac- 
cordingly, he lost the favor of Reutter, who took this 
opportunity to discipline him by turning the youth out 
into the street without funds of any kind. 


HAYDN’S MISERABLE YOUTH. 


Penniless, threadbare, hungry, Haydn wandered the streets 
of the great city that now boasts of him as one of her 
masters. Misery loves company, and Haydn fell into the 
comradeship of one Spangler, who was a little better off than 
the young composer. Spangler was a tenor with a very 


rt) 


Uae 
wk! 


HAYDN’S BIRTHPLACE AT ROHRAU, 


29 


cA a 


ese 


slender income and a wife and a child to look after. 
) Nevertheless, he invited the unfortunate Haydn to 

| share his garret with him, and the garret proved a 
home of the master during the most critical moments 

\ in his life. Friends gradually came to his rescue. <A 


} merchant named Buchholz loaned Haydn 150 florins. 
y, Later Haydn paid this back and in his will left 100 


florins to tne granddaughter of the same Buchholz. 
Haydn then indulged in the luxury of having a garret 
_ of his own, where, with the company of a wornout 
celavier and surrounded by a cook, a footman and a jour- 
neyman printer, he claimed to be ‘ttoo happy to envy the 
lot of kings.” 


Metastasio, the librettist and poet, lived in more pre- 
tentious apartments in the same building with Haydn. 


Hearing of the young man’s plight he secured him the posi- 
tion of teacher to the daughter of a wealthy Spaniard. 
Haydn took up his abode in the home of the young lady and 
continued in this position for three years. All the time 
he was busily engaged in composing, and while some of his 
compositions appear to be trite and stilted they nevertheless 
won his own approbation late in life. Metastasio intro- 
duced Haydn to Porpora, then one of the most distinguished 
musicians in Vienna. Haydn was glad to become the valet 
of Porpora and even blacked his shoes and did other menial 


work. Although he received no regular musical training 
from Porpora, there were educational crumbs continually 


dropping from his table and Haydn devoured these. His 
greatest advances, however, were made through self-study of 
the works we have mentioned hitherto. 

Haydn was devoted to the works of Emanuel Bach, and 
the latter apparently appreciated the attention the younger 
musician paid to his works. rather than selecting the works 
of his illustrious father, Johann Sebastian Bach. Haydn 
followed the style of Emanuel Bach in some of his musical 
compositions. In 1751 he composed the music for an opera 
called The New Orooked Devil. This was successfully pro- 
duced, but the score was lost and has never been recovered. 
His reputation accumulated rapidly and appointments and 
commissions followed in quick succession. Accordingly he 
felt justified to ask from two to five florins per month for 
instruction. Just what Haydn’s income was at this time 
is hard to discover, but he was apparently not afraid to get 
married in 1760 when his salary was little over one hundred 
dollars a year, with board and lodging. Haydn’s bride was 
one Anna Maria Keller, the daughter of a barber. She 
was three years older than Haydn. Her taciturnity and ex- 
travagance are said to have been far less annoying to the 
indulgent, happy master, than his wife’s disconcerting cus- 
tom of using her husband’s fresh-made manuscripts for curl 
papers or as platters for her tarts. 


WITH THE ESTERHAZYS. 

Haydn’s patron, Count Morzin, became financially em- 
barrassed and the rising composer was obliged to seek 
another protector. This he foundinthe person of Paul 
Anton, reigning prince of the wonderful house of 
Esterhazy. Prince Esterhazy was a brilliant soldier, 
an intense patriot and an ardent devotee of all the arts 
and sciences,—particularly music. Haydn went to the 
Esterhazy palace in 1761 and remained in the service of 
the family for thirty or more years. His contract with 
the Esterhazys seems in this day a very amusing docu- 
ment, but it was no doubt very necessary in the time 
of Haydn. Haydn is enjoined to be temperate with 
his musicians and to see that they appear in white 
stockings, white linen, powdered and either with a pig- 
tail or tie-wig. He is reminded that he is expected to 
set an example to the other musicians by refraining 
from vulgarity in eating, drinking and conversation. 
The said Joseph Heyden (Haydn) is commanded to 
appear in the ante-chamber of the Prince every morn- 
ing and every afternoon to inquire whether his High- 
ness will require the services of the orchestra. The 
said Joseph Heyden is ordered to instruct the female 
vocalists and also practice himself upon the various 
instruments he is expected to play. Haydn is also to 
receive a salary of four hundred florins, paid quarterly, 
and to have his meals at the officer’s table. 

Haydn had an excellent little orchestra at his dis- 
posal and had a glorious opportunity for trying his 
own compositions. Though his salary was small at the 
start it was eventually raised to 1400 florins and this 
was continued as a pension after he left the service of 
the Esterhazys. While Haydn was nominally Vice 
Capellmeister and Joseph Werner was the real Capell- 
meister at the first, Haydn was virtually the head of all 
the musical undertakings at the Palace. 

Upon the death of Prince Paul in 1762 his brother 
Nicholas succeeded him. Nicholas was know as “The 
Magnificent” and the Esterhazy palace became more 
brilliant than ever. Prince Nicholas was a competent 
player upon the baryton (an intrument resembling the 
viola-da-gamba) and took delight in playing with his 


men. This accounts for the one hundred and seventy- 
five compositions which Haydn wrote for this almost 
obsolete instrument. Haydn was continually obliged 
to write music for important functions and he seemed 
to be willing to produce anything from a cantata or- an 
operetta to a symphony or a Te Deum. His long sery- 
ice to the Esterhazys terminated with the death of 
Prince Nicholas in 1790. Prince Anton, who succeeded 
Prince Nicholas, had little love for music and dismissed 
the whole body of musicians, singers and actors retain- 
ed at the palace, except a few connected with the re- 
ligious services of the chapel. This was really a stroke 
of good fortune for Haydn, who had become very cele- 
brated by this time and who longed for broader fields 
in which to exploit his works. 


HAYDN IN LONDON. 


In 1791 Haydn’ went to London under the manage- 
ment of the violinst, John Peter Salomon. Haydn was 
to receive $1500.00 for six symphonies,—$1000.00 for 
the copyright of them, $1000.00 for a benefit concert 
and $1000.00 for twenty new compositions. This 
was quite a fortune in those days, but it must be re- 
membered that Haydn was the most celebrated com- 
poser of his time. 

The journey to London took over fifteen days. It 
is believed that on the way Haydn met Beethoven at 
Bonn. In London Haydn was 
féted like a prince, but he soon 
tired of the round of dinners and 
honors, The first concert was a 
huge success, but the London pub- 
lic, accustomed to great things, ere 
long became-tired of “too much of 
a good thing;”’ accordingly Haydn 
produced his Surprise Symphony, 
with its explosive fortissimo. fol- 
lowing a long pianissimo. “There 
all the women will scream,” ex- 
claimed Haydn and surely enough 
the Surprise Symphony became the 
talk of the hour, 

Haydn was not to be allowed to 
escape without a degree, and Ox- 
ford made him Doctor of Music. 
His exercise for the degree was 
the Canon cancrizans a tre, on the 
words Thy Voice, O Harmony, 1s 
divine. 


A PORTENTOUS MEETING. 

On his way back from London, 
in 1792, Haydn had a meeting with 
Beethoven which proved very for- 


tunate for the latter. Beethoven 
wrote a cantata for a dinner given 
by the Band of the Elector. , 


Haydn was immensely pleased with 
it and induced Beethoven to go to 
Vienna, whither he went in No- 
vember of the same year. In Vienna Beethoven be- 
came a pupil of Haydn, paying him about twenty 
cents a lesson. Beethoven was first, last and always 
an iconoclast. Haydn, then well along in years, was 
steeped in conventions. He could not understand his 
vehement pupil, who was never content unless he was 
hurdling strict rules. Haydn became disinterested 
and Beethoven in later years is quoted as saying, “I 
never learned anything from Haydn—he never would 
correct my mistakes.” 


IN LONDON AGAIN. 


Haydn made a second trip to London, in 1794, this 
time taking with him his faithful servant and copyist, 
Johann Elssler, to whom he bequeathed the sum of six 
thousand florins. This second visit, like the first, was a 
huge success. He was lionized everywhere and was 
even invited by the Queen to make his home at Wind- 
sor. The six new symphonies he wrote for the Salomon 
concerts were received with great favor, some num- 
bers being interrupted by the applause of impression- 
able Frenchmen, who were promptly condemned by the 
press. Haydn, according to the custom of the times, 
conducted seated at the pianoforte. Upon his return 
it was found that he had earned in various ways about 
$6000.00, a very large sum in 1795. 

Once more Haydn found himself at Esterhazy under 
the protection of a new prince. Despite his increasing 
years he was still a productive composer. When Nel- 
son visited Eisenstadt in 1800, Haydn wrote a Mass in 
his honor. Nelson asked for the composer’s pen and 
upon receiving it presented him with his own watch in 
return. 


.English admirers. 


A FANCIFUL PICTURE OF HAYDN 


THE EMPEROR’S HYMN. 


In 1797 Haydn wrote the Austrian Hymn known as 
Gott erhalte-unser Kaiser (God save the Emperor.) 
The Emperor was so delighted that he presented Haydn 
with a gold box bearing a relief portrait of his im- 
perial majesty. Hadow has shown how the tune thet 
Haydn employed bore a very close resemblance to cer- 
tain parts of Croatian melodies which Haydn, through 
his superior skill as a musician, ennobled into a great 
national hymn, possibly one of the best of all national 
hymns. Haydn was much attached to this hymn and 
frequently played it for his own delight. 


TWO GREAT ORATORIOS. 


Haydn’s visits to England had given him an oppor- 
tunity to estimate the popular value of oratorio. He 
heard Handel’s Messiah many times and was anxious 
to compose a similar work. The enterprising Salomon 
provided him with a very weak libretto which resulted 
in the composition of The Creation. It was first pro- 
duced by an amateur chorus in Vienna, April 29th, 
1798. One half of the first edition was purchased by 
The Creation was given for the 
first time in London in 1800. In the same year it was 


given in Paris by artists who became so enthusiastic 
that they presented Haydn with a medal of apprecia- 
The aged composer modestly thanked them for 


tion. 


CROSSING 
HAVE INSPIRED HIM TO WRITE PART OF THE “CREATION.” 


THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. 


strewing flowers on the brink of his grave. The Crea- 
tion was performed in America for the first time by 
the Moravians at Bethlehem, Pa., 1811, though whether 
the work was given complete we cannot say. The 
first known complete performance was given by the 
Handel and Hayden Society of Boston, 1819. The 
success of The Creation induced Haydn to write The 
Seasons, a work of lighter calibre, but surprisingly 
fresh and vigorous for a man of sixty-eight. The 
Seasons was first produced in April 1801. 


HAYDN’S ,.LAST HOURS. 


The strain of writing The Seasons proved very great for 
Hadyn. The composer grew gradually weaker and weaker. 
On his seventy-sixth birthday a performance of The Creation 
was arranged in his honor. Haydn was taken to the hall 
in the carriage of Prince Esterhazy and carried to his place 
in an arm chair. Seated among nobles and notables, pro- 
tected from the March drafts by the scarfs of Princesses 
and Duchesses, Haydn greeted an audience which rose to 
pay him reverence. When the venerable musician heard the 
chorus, “And there was light,’’ applauded wildly by the audi- 
ence, he raised his hand and pointing to the skies said, 
“Not I, but a power from above created that.” Hummel 
and Beethoven were there. At the end Beethoven knelt and 
kissed the hand of his aged master. Haydn, in passing out, 
bade the bearers of his chair pause long enough on the 
threshold of the stage door to raise his hands and east a 
last blessing to the orchestra. 

In 1809 the French occupied Vienna by military force. 
Itaydn, intensely patriotic, was very much depressed by this. 
On the 26th of May he had a sinking spell and although 
very feeble asked to be carried to the piano, where he played 
the Emperors Hymn three times. He died five days later, 
The great respect with which he was held may be estimated 
by the fact that funeral services were conducted in several 
different churches, the officers of the invading army attend- 
ing many of them. 


HAYDN’S APPEARANCE AND PERSONALITY. 
Art is kind to the great. 


in the average portrait of Haydn a man whose features 
were described by many as “repulsive.” Haydn was 


30 


THIS JOURNEY 


man by George P. Upton; 


A Croatian Composer, Notes Toward tl Ss yh 
Piva iat a he Study of Joseph 
seine Werke, 
graphie, by C, 


Few people would detect - 


disfigured not oniy by the results of a bad case of 
smallpox, but had in addition a pdlypus which altered 
the shape of his nose, and a very thick underlip which 
engaged the attention of all who saw him for the first 
time. He was‘so dark that he was sometimes dubbed 
“The Moor.” His eyes, however, were so kindly and 
so merry that they softened his entire expression. In 
fact he has gained the reputation of being the merriest 
of all the great masters. The brightness and good 
cheer which characterizes so many of his compositions. 
was but a reflection of the man. He enjoyed life huge-. 
ly. Good jokes entertained him immensely and he loved 
to converse with attractive women. He was very pious 
and very generous,—rewarding his old friends and serv-, 
ants liberally in his will. 


HAYDN AS A COMPOSER. | 
Haydn wrote so continuously that a catalogue of his com- 
plete compositions would fill many pages. his 123) 
symphonies the best known are perhaps the Farewell, Toy, 
Oxford, surprise aud Military. ‘The symphonies are finel 
arranged for piano duet and make excellent teaching ma- 
terial for students in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades 
(grading by ten). Haydn’s seventy-seven string quartets 
are especially fine. While his pianoforte concertos and trios 
are rarely played, his pianoforte sonatas are invaluable a 
teaching material. ‘The nine violin concertos and the four 
violin sonatas are less well known. ‘Three oratorios, four- 
teen masses, and numerous other works for the voice remain. 
Ilis operas and operettas are practically obsolete and are 
in fact of comparatively little merit in this day. Probably 
his greatest achievements were the 

advances in instrumentation he 
brought about by means of constant’ 
daily experimentation’ in effects ob- 
tained by the use of different com- 
binations of instruments, and also the 
establishment of what has come to 
be known as the ‘Haydn-form’’— 
that is, the general plan of the first 
movement of the sonata. While this 
form was in a measure anticipated 
in the composittons of C. P. BE. Bach, 
D. Scarlatti, Corelli and others, it re- 
mained for Haydn to bring symmetry 
and clearness to the plan. ¥ 


HAYDN’S FRIENDS. 
A man of Haydn’s jovial dis- 
position would naturally have 
many friends, apart from those 
already mentioned. First of all 
we must note, his brother Mich- 
ael, who was also a musician of 
no mean ability. Haydn left him 
4000 florins in his will. Haydn 
carried on a very interesting cor- 
respondence with one George 
Thompson, a great friend of 
Burns, who was anxious to have 
Haydn make settings for Scotch 
National Songs. Thompson paid 
over one thousand dollars for 
settings of some two hundred 
and fifty songs. Of all Haydn’s 
friends Mozart was the dearest 
He is believed to have met hi 
first in the winter of 1778. 


WAS, SAID TO 


A HAYDN PROGRAM. 


1, PrANo Durr. Theme and Variations from Symphon 
No. 20. Grade 4. A : if ‘ 

2. Prano Soto. Sonata No. 4 in D. Grade 6. Or, 
Andante from Surprise Symphonie, transcribed b 
Saint-Saens. Grade 7. 

3. Mp My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair, 
arade 4. 

4. VioLiIn Soto. 
Grade 3. 

5. Prano Sono. 


Serenade in C (from Quartet in FP). 


Four Gems From 'Haydn. Grade 3. Or, 


Andante and Variations in F Minor. Grade 6. 
Piano (Six Hands). Gypsy Rondo. Grade 4. 
- PrAno Soio. Sonata in FE Flat Major, Grade 6. Or 


6 
7 
Largo from G Minor (String Quartet). Grade 4. 
8. Vocat Soro. With Verdure Clad (Creation) Grade T. 
9 vig sues Minuet in FE Flat (arr. by Burmeister). 
afadae . 


10. Cnrorus. The Heavens are Telling: 1 m4 ie 
herd’s Hand Divine. Grade 8. a yo 


BOOKS ABOUT HAYDN. 
Life of Haydn, by Louis Nohl, translated from the Ger 
Haydn, by J. Cuthbert Hadden 


H. HWadow; Joseph Haydn, sein Leben und 


by August Riessmann; Joseph H 0 
F. Pohl. CN 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 
1. Give some account of Haydn's nationality a 
aucestry. ~ 


nd 


When and where was Haydn born? 
3. Tell something about his youth and education. 
4. What famous poet helped Haydn in his youth? 
o. What noted German musician did Haydn emulate? 
6. Tell something of the noble family that employee 

Taydn as a musical director. 
7. When did Haydn yisit London? i 
8. Name two famous masters who were pupils of Haydn. 
9. Give a list of some of Haydn’s most famous work 
10. When and where did Haydn die? d 


UUURURH OOO UUDARO OM ORDEROONTRONLIOED 


@ 
i 


fx 
® 


LISZT’S EPOCH. 


In all the congregation of races that make up the 
population of Hungary, the Magyars form by far the 
greater part. For centuries Hungary was the border- 
land between Asiatic and European civilization. One 
might expect in Hungary just such a proud, brave, 


war-like generous and impassioned race as it has 
proved to be. Was not theirs the _ territory 
which both the Hun and the Vandal _ traversed 


time and again? Do they not to this day trace their 
genealogy back to sources so venerable that many of the 
aristocratic houses of France, Germany and England seem 
mere upstarts by comparison? Is not their very language 
simply a modified form of an Asiatic tongue of remote 
antiquity and great richness and expressiveness? Despite 
the fact of their affiliation with Austria through a: royal 
marriage performed nearly four hundred years ago, do they 
not to-day preserve their national ideals, their distinctive 
speech and their political identity with an independence 
which wins the admiration of the whole world? Of such 
a race came Franz Liszt. Singularly enough his long resi- 
dence in France, Germany and Italy gave him the habit of 
the cosmopolitan, but he always held the love of Hungary 
deep in his heart, and Hungarians point to Liszt as one of 
their greatest heroes as indeed they might to Zéltan, Geysa, 
Rak6ezy, Kossuth and others. 


LISZT’S ANCESTORS. 

Wuite Liszt's immediate ancestors held compara- 
tively humble positions, it is very generally supposed 
that they were in some way connected by family ties 
with the men and women of the same name who at an 
earlier date were representative members of the Hun- 
garian nobility. 

His great-grandfather was a subaltern officer in the 
army, his grandfather was a steward to famous Prince 
Esterhazy, and when he died, his son, Adam Liszt, be- 
came his successor in the Esterhazy family. In this 
way Liszt’s father and grandfather passed their days 


in close touch with the most stimulating musical at-- 


mosphere of the time in continental Europe. While 
the steward’s position was little better than that of a 
butler, Hungarian society was in such a plastic state 
that it was possible for the half brother of Adam 
Liszt to rise to the exalted position of Imperial Aus- 
trian Procurator-General. Adam Liszt was known to 
have been somewhat proficient in playing the piano, 
flute and violin, and it is stated that he at one time 
came under the advice and instruction of the great 
Haydn when the master was the director of music at 
the Ezterhazy palace in Eisenstadt. In 1810 Adam 
Liszt removed to Raiding to superintend another estate 
belonging to the Esterhazy family. There he married 
Anna Lager, whose ancestry was German. Very little 
is told of her except that she was comely in appear- 
ance and an excellent housewife. 


LISZT’S EVENTFUL CHILDHOOD. 


Franz Liszt (flungarian form, Liszt Ferenez) was born 
at Raiding, Hungary, October 22, 1811. Llis first instructor 
was his gifted father. The child soon mani- 
fested surprising talent, and when he made 
his first appearance in. public at Oldenburg, 
several Hungarian noblemen readily offered 
to supply the means for his musical edu- 
eation for a period of six years. Accord- 
ingly he was taken to Vienna and after a 
concert in that city in 1823, the musical 
world soon learned that it had to look for- 
ward to a new master. Beethoven, it is 
said, was one of the most enthusiastic ad- 
mirers of the child virtuoso, Liszt's teachers 
were Czerny for the piano, and Salicri and 
Randhartiger for composition. Through 
Randhartiger, Liszt met Schubert, although 
we have no illuminating description of the 
meeting. In the same year he wrote a varia- 
tion upon a waltz by Diabeili which was 
immediately published and met with no little 
fayor. His fame at the keyboard had already 
taken on meteoric brilliancy. With the as- 
surance of this quickly-gained reputation his 
father decided to take the child to Paris 
with the hope that he might be admitted to 
the conservatoire, notwitustanding the restric- 
tion which excluded foreigners. The director 
Cherubini, himself an Italian, refused to 
Make jn exception to the rule but it is well 
known that his prejudice against prodigies 
Was his main reason for keeping Liszt out 
of the famous school. Liszt, however, con- 
tinued his training under Reicha and Paer, 
both of whom were very renowned in their 
day. During the next few years he made 
many tours through Switzerland and Eng- 
land always with the greatest success, In 
1825 he found time to write a one act opera, 
Don Sanche, which was produced at the 
Académie Royale with pronounced but tran- 
sient success, 


ROSENTHAL. 


Emit Lirsxrne. 


Si 


[~ 
oe TTT? 


ig 
‘one 


1811—The Real Liszt—1886 


“Wer wird nun der Liszt Helfen?” 


A DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENT, 


Picture a boy in his early teens listening to the adu- 
lation of the great men of the time and you may gain 
an idea of the somewhat dangerous environment 
which surrounded Liszt during the formative period 
of his life. How easy it would have been to have 
“turned his head” in a manner which would have 
ruined him in after life. Indeed there are those who 
delight in finding a certain superficiality in Liszt’s 
work at various times in his life and then attributing 
it to the effusive praise his early efforts brought forth. 
Even Beethoven, according to contemporary reports, 
had given the boy the consecrating kiss of approbation. 
He became the pet of a half dozen salons in Paris, 
where his less important accomplishments were praised 
above his hard-earned attainments. When Liszt lost 
his father in 1827 he was really in a somewhat dan- 
gerous plight, but the serious duty of supporting his 
mother sobered the youth and made him work more 
earnestly than ever. The performances of ‘Master 


iirezr: 
FRigDHEIM, 


31 


SILOTI. SAUER. REISENAUER,. 


MANSFELDT. 


(wz 


TS lll 
Or V 


Liszt” in England and “Le Petit Liszt” in France 
opened the eyes of the young pianist to the large 
revenue which might be obtained by a virtuoso 
pianist and he resolved to become a famous per- 
former on the pianoforte. 


THE MAKING OF A COSMOPOLITE. 


Singularly enough the Magyar language did not gain rec- 
ognition as a court language or a state language until the 
early part of the last century. In its place German and 
Latin were widely used. Many of the works of the early 
Hungarian authors were written in Latin and the country 
boasted of a Latin newspaper as early as 1721. Although 
Liszt was born a Hungarian he was not taught the Magyar 
language, as at that time the language was confined largely 
to the peasantry: He was, however, well acquainted with 
the customs, society and literature of the countries through 
which he had passed. It is not unlikely that he was more 
influenced by the environment of the French Salon than by 
any other force. For this reason we must judge his entire 
life by the training he received. Liszt has been condemned 
for certain acts which are readily admitted as offences by 
those who are trained in a more severe moral school. The 
fact that his surroundings permitted him to look easily upon 
certain conventions which others hold sacred does not ex- 
cuse Liszt for transgressions, but it does explain a part 
of his education which made him view the society of his 
time through totally different glasses than those worn by 
others. Emotional, excitable, impassioned, volatile, Liszt 
early made up his mind that he would enter holy orders, 
His father, however, persuaded him not to take this step. 


LIFE IN PARIS. 


After his father’s death Liszt established himself in 
Paris as a teacher under the patronage of Erard, the 
famous piano manufacturer. One of his pupils was 
the daughter of the Count de Saint-Cric, with whom 
he promptly fell in love. The Count refused to con- 
sider a courtship and Liszt was heart-broken and his 
health suffered seriously. Indeed, his condition was 
so desperate that when he disappeared from the salons 
of the day it was thought that he was dead and an 
obituary notice was published. 

For nearly two years Liszt remained in a convales- 
cent state, and during that time he read exhaustively. 
Soon, however, we find the virtuoso spirit in the young 
Hungarian master returning and Parisian salons again 
rang with the wonders of Liszt. The appearance of 
Paganini in Paris was a great incentive to Liszt. The 
mystical Italian violinist, with his “diabolically” facile 
technic and his wonderful accuracy amazed Liszt, and 
set new standards which the youth was quick to dupli- 
cate on the piano keyboard. 

Berlioz, who was only some eight years the senior of 
Liszt, influenced the life of the composer-pianist very 
strongly. His association with Victor Hugo, Lamar- 
tine, George Sand, Heine; Chopin, and other great 
artistic workers of the time, affected him deeply. For 
Chopin he had the affection of a brother. 
Although they had differences at times, 
this is not surprising when the tempera- 
ments of the two great artists are con- 
sidered. Liszt’s biography of Chopin is 
unquestionably his finest literary effort. 


Liszt’s life, always swaying between con- 
ventions on one hand and impassioned out- 
bursts on the other, found in Paris just the 
field for its greatest happiness. One moment 
we find him led to the door of the abbey 
about to take on the gown of the priest, 
another we find him associating with the 
disciples of Saint Simon and his social hier- 
archy. A friend of the Abbé de Lamennais, 
Liszt maintained his fealty even when that 
priest suffered the anathema of the church, 
Liszt was glad enough to run to its doors in 
later years. We are not surprised when in 
1834 we find Liszt wildly in love with the 
Countess D’Agoult, better known by her pen 


name, “Daniel Stern.’ Of Liszt's children, 
Daniel died at twenty years of age, Blan- 
dine became the wife of Emile Olliver, 


Napoleon's minister of war, and Cosima later 
became the wife of von Biilow and then 
Wagner. 


LISZT’S SUCCESSFUL TOURS. 
Between the years 1839 and 1847 Liszt 
made many appearances in most parts of 
cultured Europe. It must not be thought 
that he was invariably acclaimed, since 
GotTscHALe. his life with the Countess d’Agoult un- 


EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. 


LISZT PLAYING BEFORE THE 


questionably won him the disfavor of many in England 
and in Switzerland, as well as in some other places. Liszt 
himself realized this. In England, for instance, his agent 
lost money upon his concerts which Liszt made up from 
his own resources. His generosity was monumental. He 
was continually giving with the most open handed and 
open hearted munificence. In this way he won the ad- 
miration of thousands and the friendship of many. 
Upon one occasion a fund was raised to erect a monu- 
ment to Liszt in Pesth. Liszt would not accept the 
honor, but insisted that the money collected be given to 
a poor sculptor to help him during his struggle years. 
However, Liszt became greatly interested in the erec- 
tion of a monument to Beethoven in Bonn and it was 
through his beneficence and activity that the statue was 
completed. 


AT WEIMAR. 


In 1849 Liszt decided to settle in Weimar, where he re- 
mained for over twelve years. At that time the peaceful 
German city was still aliye with the interest that Goethe, 
Schiller and other great German poets had brought to it. 
The theatre and opera house had been the scene of many 
of the great dramatic and musical triumphs of the time 
and in this atmosphere Liszt found inspiration for the 
splendid work he was destined to do for art. His infatua- 
tion for the Princess Karolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein ar- 
roused antagonism among those who had criticized his 
former love affairs, but some small commiseration for Liszt’s 
unconventionality was found in the fact that the Princess 
was of great assistance to Liszt in his literary work. Liszt’s 
broad spirit of personal sacrifice was indicated when he 
gave up the career of the virtuoso, with its enormous re- 
muneration, to become director of the Court Theatre at 
Weimar with a comparatively small income. He did this in 
order that he might help rising composers who needed such 
support. It was his idea to give operas lacking support 
their initial performances as well as helping other works 
too recent and too original to win wide popular favor with- 
out such assistance. In this way Wagner’s Tannhiduser, 
Lohengrin, Raff's King Alfred, Schumann’s Genoveva, Schu- 
bert’s Alfonso and Estrella, Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini, were 
given with success. It was to Weimar that Richard Wagner 
turned in despair only to find that Liszt had already ar- 
ranged for a performance of Lohengrin, which the composer 
had feared would never be produced. Later, when escaping 


arrest for participation in the revolution at Dresden, Wagner- 


found sanctuary at Weimar, until the generous Liszt could 
arrange for him to go to Switzerland. 

It was in Weimar that Liszt first became known as a 
teacher of musical celebrities. The fact that his means 
were such that he could teach without remuneration drew 
to him many worthy but impoverished students who were 
only too anxious to retain his patronage by hard work. 
Many of these became illustrious in after years not only 
as performers but as composers. Mr. James Huneker in his 
book Franz Liszt gives a catalog of some three hundred 
pupils of Liszt. When it is remembered that Liszt might 
easily have charged an exorbitant fee for instruction, one 
may gain an idea of his beneficence in giving these thou- 
sands of lessons and also his great donations to the art 
of the future. 


THE END OF THE WEIMAR PERIOD. - 


Liszt’s activities in Weimar were by no means con- 
fined to conducting and teaching. An atmosphere of 
musical progress invigorated the little Grand Ducal 
city as no where else. The phrase, “the music of the 
future,” was coined and applied to all of the newer 
works represented by the new spirit of Weimar. 
Liszt himself participated in this by freeing the sym- 
phony from the rigid bonds of the established forms 
and developing the newer “symphonic poem” which 
many modern composers have accepted as the style for 
their own compositions. In the symphonic poem one 
long movement supersedes the several movements of 
the old symphony and the development or working out 
of the themes is done with less restriction and more 
harmonic fluency. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Liszt had brought a 
new order of things to Weimar and had done much to 
revive the former fame of the placid little city, the 
people of Weimar did not appreciate this and when, 
after a demonstration made at the performance of 
Cornelius’s Barber of Bagdad, Liszt decided to leave 
the opera, they came to their senses and begged him to 
stay. But Liszt thereafter went from place to place, 


followed by a constellation of famous pupils. Rome, 
Pesth and Weimar all shared a portion of his time. 
He had concluded his artistic mission in Weimar and 
the world of music was advanced immensely by his 
initiative and independence. 


LISZT’S LAST YEARS. 


In Rome Liszt’s leanings toward the church were favored 
by the opportunity of meeting many devout men and women, 
His room was furnished with the simplicity of an ascetic 
and his industry was unusual, He found himself at his 
writing desk at four o’clock nearly every morning, He con- 
tinued composing until seven o'clock. At eleven o’clock he 
attended mass, devoting the other hours of the morning 
to work. At noon he dined with the Princess Sayn-Witt- 
genstein, who had likewise elected to live a life of retire- 
ment and piety. On every other day he taught from two to 
six in the afternoons. The evenings were spent at the house 
of the Princess. His devotion to the church was sincere 
and constant. In 1866 Pope Pius IX raised him to tue 
ecclesiastical dignity of Abbe. In 1870 he returned to 
Weimar to conduct a Beethoven festival. In 1875 Liszt 
was made president of the Academy of Music at Pesth, 
Hungary, and was raised to the nobility. In 1886 Liszt 
went to a festival conducted at Bayreuth. He was im- 
mensely interested in the performances but was able to 
attend only two. The last opera he saw was T'ristan anid 
Isolde. We was so weak that he could hardly sit through 
the performance. Bronchitis followed by inflammation of 
the lungs followed his exertion and he was confined to his 
bed until July 31st, when he died surrounded by his family 
and a few faithful friends. 


SOME FAMOUS LISZT PUPILS. 


Among the many illustrious names associated with that 
of Liszt are his pupils, Anna Mehlig, Amy Fay, Julia Rivé 
King, Sofie Menter, Adele Aus der Ohe, Pauline Viardot- 
Garcia, Wugen d’Albert, C. B, Alkan, Conrad Ansorge, Walter 
Bache, Carl Baermann, Albert Morris Bagby, Franz Bendel, 
Arthur. Bird, Bernard Boekelmann, Alexander Borodin, 
Louis Brassin, Hans yon Biilow Buonamini, Richard Bur- 
meister, Peter Cornelius, Leopold Damrosch, Felix Draeske, 
Ifenry Falcke, Arthur Friedheim, 8S. Jadassohn, Alfred 
Jaell, Josef Joachim, Rafael Joseffy, Wilhelm Kienzel, Martin 
Krause, Carl von Lachmund, Alexander Lambert, Frederick 
Lamond, Eduard Lassen, Wilhelm von Lenz, Emil Liebling, 
George, Liebling, Louis Mass, Hugo Mansfeldt, William 
Mason, Edward MacDowell, Max Meyer Olbersleben, Moritz 
Moszkowski, J. Vianna da Motta, Felix Mottl, Muller-Har- 
tung, Otto Neitzel, Arthur Nikisch, Joachim Raff, Silas G. 
Pratt, Alfred Reisenauer, H. Remenyi, Rimsky-Korsakov, 
Hermann Ritter, Moriz Rosenthal, Camille Saint-Saéns, Emil 
Sauer, Xaver Scharwenka, Giovanni Sgambatti, wutlam H. 
Sherwood, Alexander Siloti, Friedrich Smetana Bernhard 
Stavenhagen, Frank van der Stucken, Karl Tausig, Felix 
Weingartner, Van Zeyl, Geza Zichy and Constantin von 
Sternberg. Despite the fact that Liszt earned and gave 
away a fortune, very little if any of this came from teach- 
ing fees. In fact he gave so freely that his means in his 
old age were reduced very greatly. He used to say fre- 
quently to his friends ‘‘Wer wird nun der Liszt helfen?’’ 
(“Who will belp poor Liszt now?’) Probably no musi- 
cian has ever lived who has done as much for others as 
Franz Liszt, 


LISZT’S APPEARANCE. 


Descriptions of Liszt add interest to his innumer- 
able photographs, which at best can not give the full 
measure of the man to the eye of the keen observer. 
There must, however, have been something decidedly 
hypnotic about his appearance, for we find among the 
many records of his likeness such adjectives as re- 
markable, demoniac, lovable, animated, attractive, noble, 
divine expression, electric, erect, gleaming eyes, im- 
pressive, eyes flashed like diamonds, sensitive mouth, 
amiable, surprising youthfulness, long sensitive hands, 
very thin (in old age), stooped a great deal, decked 
himself with orders, demeanor affected, not beautiful. 
What a queer conglomeration of descriptive epithets! 
Through it all we must perceive that magnetic power 
which had much to do with his control over great 


audiences. 
LISZT’S PLAYING. 


Shall we content ourselves with the 
of those who were benefited by Liszt and conclude that 
he reached the zenith of piano playing, or shall we regard 
these opinions analytically and endeavor to discover what 
it was that made people consider Liszt the greatest of 
all pianists of the past and of the present? Hans Christian 
Anderson in a very fervid sketch of Liszt’s playing gives an 
idea of how Liszt impressed those of his auditors who were 
without extended musical training, “The whole instrument 
appears to be changed into a great orchestra,” he says. 
“This is accomplished by ten fingers which possess a power 
of execution which might be termed superhuman, I have 
met politicians, who at Liszt’s playing, conceived that 
peaceful citizens at the sound of the Marseillaise might 
be carried away that they might seize their guns and 
rush forth from hearths and homes to fight for an idea! 
I have seen quiet Copenhageners with Danish autumnal 
coolness in their veins become political bacchantes at his 
playing. The mathematician has grown giddy at the echo- 
ing fingers and the reckoning of the sounds.” Contrasted 
with this we may give an anecdots from Heine quoted by 
Mr. James [Hluneker, in which it would appear that Tete 
intended to expose Liszt in the trappings of a charlatan: 
“The celebrated singer (Rubini) had undertaken a _ tour 
with I'ranz List, sharing expenses and profits. The great 
pianist took Signor Belloni about with him everywhere (the 
entrepreneur in general of his reputation), and to him was 
left the whole of the business management. When, how- 
ever, all accounts had been settled up, and Signor Belloni 
presented his little bill, what was Rubini’s horror to find 
that among the mutual expenses there appeared sundry 
items for ‘laurel wreaths,’ ‘bouquets,’ ‘laudatory poems’ and 
such like ‘ovation expenses.’ ’’ ‘This, however, might easily 
have been an example of a none too lovely side of Heine’s 
career since there are existing letters from Heine to Liszt 
and Meyerbeer which point quite clearly to nothing short 
of blackmail. Robert Schumann speaks with great enthusi- 
asm of Liszt’s playing, saying that he was only exceeded in 
tenderness by Chopin. Grieg, aS a young man, marveled at 
the playing of Liszt. Rosenthal, always a devoted pupil, 
declares that he played “as no one before him and as no 
one probably ever will again.” ee ; 


32 


unlimited applause 


LISZT AS A COMPOSER. 


The catalog of Liszt’s compositions is usually a sur- 
prise to anyone who has not investigated this phase of 


the master’s work. For orchestra, his most significant : 
works are his symphonic poems, of which the most 


. 
1 
. 
| 


famous are Les Preludes and his Faust Symphony. For 


piano, his concertos in E flat and in A deserve first” 


attention, although the public knows Liszt as a com- 
poser principally through his fifteen Rhapsodies. The 
sonata in B minor is a monumental work which should 
be more frequently heard, as should the very difficult 
but extremely beautiful Eludes d execution transcen- 
dante. 
traume (Nocturnes) are perhaps the most played of 


: 


The Liszt Consolations and the three Liebes-— 


the composer’s works since they are perhaps the least 


difficult. Liszt’s own great technical skill was no doubt 


responsible for the fact that he wrote so very few 


pieces within the grasp of the player of limited ability. 


His arrangements of the works of others’ operas, 


songs, etc., to say nothing of the Beethoven symphonies, 
were the first to gain him popularity, and for this rea- 
son his own unusually fine original pianoforte compo- 
sitions were eclipsed for a time. : 

Liszt’s vocal works are noteworthy, but not so much 
for their brilliancy as for the serious intent of the 
composer. St. Elisabeth is rich in tonal beauties and 
is perhaps the most frequently heard of all Liszt’s 


3 


choral works, although many of his other vocal works | 


(Graner Festival Mass, Christus, etc.) are works of 


rare charm. His critical writines, while not so force-— 
ful or so deep as those of Wagner, nor as acute as 


those of Schumann, are valuable in the extreme. 


BOOKS ABOUT LISZT. 


While an immense 
been written about Liszt few completed volumes of any 
merit may be found outlining the work of the great musi- 
cian. 
Beaufort, Nohl and Arthur [Ilervey. It was not until the 
appearance cf Hluneker’s Franz Liszt that anything like 
a good Liszt book was obtainnble. 
not only outlined the life of the composer but has collected 
a splendid amount of contemporary material which ap- 
peared at the time when Liszt was the musical sensation 
of the world. 


A LISZT PROGRAM. 


1. Durt—Rhapsody March eer. ceesweeeee 
(Arranged from the Hungarian 
Rhapsody No. 2) 
Piano Soro—Consolation, No. 5e-aaeeeeeee 2 
VocaL Soto—Thou Art So Like a Flower. 4 
Viotin Soto—Notturno (No. 3). 
Piano Soro—O, Thou Sublime Evening 
Star's ciegieh ew athe e aoc Pe oe es 5 
(Arranged by Liszt from 
Waener’s Tannhiuser.) 


GRADE 


EES 


6. Piano Soro—Hark, Hark, the Lark ...... 6 
(Arranged by Liszt from 
Schubert’s song.) 

7. Prano Soto—Bridal Chorus, from Wag- 

ner’s Lohengrin .......- « Ns ns Ge 7. 
(Arranged by Liszt.) 

8. Vocat Soto—The Loreley ..............- ae 6 

9. Piano Soro—Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 6 7 

10. Piano Soro—Concert Paraphrase on 
Verdi's, Rigoletto .. sacs Rte, re 8 
Or Mazurka Brillantel.) sees are i, 
Or Hongrotse (David-Liszt))sssneeee 5 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 
nee some account of the antiquity of the Hungarian 
= when and where was Franz Liszt born? 
. What great composer was an : rer 
ee p 1 admirer of Liszt when 
4. Who were Liszt’s best known teachers? 
5. What effect did Paganini have upon Liszt? 
6. When did Liszt settle in Weimar? 
What great master did Liszt befriend at Weimar? 
esge be ede devotion to the chureh. 
ell something of Liszt as a perform ; 
aataweeoe I er, as a teacher, 
10. When and where did Liszt die? 


CRN 


SS 
Natanany ak 
al 


S 
- 


HH 


amount of deseriptive matter has © 


Among the best of these are the biographies by de 


In this the author has © 


HA 


LISZT’S BIRTHPLACE IN RAIDING, 


MacDowell’s Period 


Tue careers of Louis Moreau Gottschalk and 
Dr. William Mason have been discussed pre- 
viously in this series and in connection with 
them is given some insight to the musical condi- 
tions in America which surrounded those not- 
able figures in our history. The attention of 
the reader was drawn to the fact that while Dr. 
Mason was very clearly representative of the Ameri- 
eanism of New England, Gottschalk with his French 
mother and his English father, was brought up in the 
Latin atmosphere of New Orleans and was far more a 
Latin-American composer than an American. 


With MacDowell we have a new and distinctly different 
type. Mason and Gottschalk were both born in the year 
1829. MacDowell was born thirty years later, and those 
three intervening decades were of the greatest significance 
to the music of the new world. Much of this was due to the 
splendid initiative of Theodore Thomas as well as to the 
activity of Dr. Mason, When MacDowell was a boy in New 
York, Thomas was organizing his Symphony Orchestra that 
was to do such magnificent pioneer work. The liberal atti- 
tude of the young conductor led him to introduce in America 
the works of many composers who found difficulty in getting 
a hearing in the hide-bound musical centers of Europe. 
Wagner was not the only one who owed a debt to Thomas 
for valuable propaganda. It is thus quite clear that a young 
man with musical inclinations in the New York City of a 
half eee ago had advantages which were not to be 
scorned. 


MacDowell’s Ancestry and Youth 


MacDowell’s nearest ancestral connection to the old 
world was to Ireland. His grandfather, Alexander 
MacDowell, and his grandmother, Sarah Thompson, 
were both born in Ireland. The name MacDowell is 
clearly of Scotch origin and it is for this reason that 
he is given the credit of being of Scotch-American 
blood. His mother, Frances M. Knapp, was an Ameri- 
can lady whose ancestors have been traced to England. 
MacDowell’s grandfather came to America shortly 
after the beginning of the last century. The com- 
poser’s father was a successful New York business 
man. The noted American musician was born at 200 
Clinton Street, New York, December 18, 1861. His 
birthplace, long since, fell under the swarm of the 
alien and industrial advance which has swept over 
lower New York. 

MacDowell’s grandparents were Quakers, and when 
the composer’s father, Alexander MacDowell, showed 
signs of a talent for drawing it was repressed as much 
as possible. It is not surprising then that Edward had 
the encouragement of his father in both drawing and 
music. The boy’s first music teacher was Mr. Juan 
Buitrago, a South American pianist of ability and ex- 
perience. The child was very versatile, and his music 
books were frequently decorated with clever sketches 
and youthful attempts at poetry. In later years his 


YESS 
ye 
SITs 


“Music Is Impassioned Speech—the Highest Expres- 
sion of What We Consider Godlike in Man.’ 


the examinations for admission to the Conservatory, where 
he became the piano pupil of Marmontel and the theory pupil 
of Savard. Among his companions in the conservatory was 
Claude Debussy. The two young composers maintained a 
mutual interest in each other’s works in later years. 

Once while surreptitiously sketching a portrait of one of 
his instructors he was “caught in the act.” The teacher 
carried off the sketch to a famous teacher of art, who 
promptly begged the boy’s mother to let him give the boy 
three years’ instruction without cost. There is thus no 
uncertainty in the appraisal of the boy’s artistic talent in 
that direction. However, MacDowell’s mother decided to 
hold fast to the career of a musician for her son. 

In 1878 MacDowell heard Anton Rubinstein’s brother, 
Nicholas Rubinstein, play the Tchaikowski Concerto in 
B flat minor. He was amazed at the performance, and 
this led him to believe that in order to reach a similar 
standard he would be obliged to employ methods some- 
what different from those in use at the Paris Con- 
servatoire at that time. Consequently he decided to go 
to the Conservatory at Stuttgart, then at the height of 
its fame as a school for pianists. 

It did not take long for MacDowell’s acute powers 
of perception to point out to him that at Stuttgart 
there was not the atmosphere for which he was long- 


ing., The ultra-arbitrary methods at Stuttgart soon 


iS 


Nees est 


disgusted MacDowell and he sought another 
institution. This time it was Frankfort-am- 
Main, where Joachim Raff was at the head of 
the excellent conservatorium endowed by Dr. 
Hoch. During the intervening summer, how- 
ever, MacDowell resided in Wiesbaden studying 
with Louis Ehlert, whose reputation as a 
writer and as a pedagog was deservedly great. Ehlert 
wanted MacDowell to study with Von Bulow, but the 
latter felt that his teaching days were over and wrote 
a none too courteous letter stating that “he could not 
waste any time on an American boy.” 


At the Frankfort Conservatory MacDowell became the 
papi of Raff in composition and Carl Heymann in piano- 
orte playing. The latter teacher was one of the most sympa- 
thetic and artistic of the piano pedagogs of his time and yet 
he had sufficient disciplinary routine not to be mild with his 
pupils. MacDowell states in one place that while at Paris 
the methods of instruction were so exhaustive that they led 
rim to transpose the preludes and fugues of Bach into other 
keys. At Frankfort, Heymann taught him more in one week 
than ever before. In Raff he also found an inspiring artistic 
friend as well as a teacher. Raff was no weakling in his 
pedagogical attitude, even though many of his compositions 
do descend to triteness as others ascend to mastery. 

Heymann was so convinced of the greatness of MacDowell 
as a pedagog that when mental troubles revealed to the 
German teacher that he would be obliged to leave the con- 
servatory, he suggested MacDowell as his successor. There 
is something pathetic in the close friendship of Heymann 
for MacDowell at that period when we remember that our 
American master was doomed to spend his closing hours in 
similar intellectual darkness. Jealousies in the faculty, 
however, prevented MacDowell from receiving the post. He 
was little more than a youth and was likewise an alien. 
Quite naturally the important position was filled by a native 
German teacher. 


MacDowell did commence to teach, however, and 
among his pupils was that remarkable woman, Miss 
Marian Nevins, who was later to become Mrs, Edward 
MacDowell. Through her efforts to preserve the spirit 
of her husband’s work she has created at Peterboro, 
New Hampshire, a movement which has won national 
recognition. 

MacDowell at Darmstadt 


MacDowell was appointed head piano teacher at 
the Darmstadt Conservatory, where he taught mediocre 
pupils for forty hours a week. He also taught a little 
class of titled and stupid children in the Castle at 
Erbach-Fiirstenau. Finding the life at Darmstadt tire- 
some, he resided at Frankfort and rode daily to the 
smaller city. These long rides on the trains enabled 
him to devote much time to composition, as well as to 
German, French and English literature. 

In 1882 MacDowell visited Liszt and played his first 
piano concerto for the master. Eugen D’Albert was at 
the second piano. It was at Liszt’s insistence that 
MacDowell’s Modern Suite was given at the Allge- 
meiner deutscher Musik-Verein Convention held at 
Ziirich. MacDowell played his first piano suite with 


poems became so numerous pronounced success. This 
and so melodious that a aecbewcidly (( 7 O8RE A. 3 een ee OGL) ine was one of the greatest 
collection of his verses : “a 3 # 2S v7 honors that could have 
was published after Mac- Nt > ee Het f AOR been bestowed upon a 
Dowell’s death. So di- sar Soil as: eee O71 wey ee alte pr eo eo a r : young musician, and As 
versified were the boy’s | 9 ae ose a alban SaaS Sh Fs fs characteristic of the artis- 
talents that his parents were tic liberality with which 

Germany has welcomed 


at a loss to know which one Y ff 


and helped many American 
artists when they have 


rt r 7 
to select for a life career. et i 4 
After Buitrago, his next t= ATS 


teacher was Paul Desver- 
nine and then no less than 
the incomparable Teresa 
Carreno, who, it will be re- 
membered, had gone to 
New York from Venezuela 
when she was little more 


been worthy of notice. 
The following year. Liszt 
again helped him by secur- 


ing the publication of the 
first suite and the second 


suite with Breitkopf and 
Hartel in Leipsic. Mac- 


than a child. 


So very marked was the tal- 
ent of the boy that his parents 


Dowell tried to show his 
appreciation by dédicating 
his first pianoforte concerto 
to Liszt. 


were advised to supplement his 


work with a course of study 
in Europe. Accordingly he set 
out with his mother for Paris 
in the early part of 1876. He 
had little difficulty in passing 


A MUSICAL AUTOGRAPH BY MACDOWELL. 
(FROM “THE JOY OF AUTUMN,” COPYRIGHT BY A. P. SCH MIDT. ) 


33 


In 1884 MacDowell returned 
to America for a month, dur- 


ing which time he. married 
Miss Nevins at Waterford, 
Conn. Again back in Europe, 


the young couple visited Lon- 


don, Frankfort and Paris. 
pianoforte teacher at the Wiirzburg Conservatory but was 
fortunate in not receiving it—fortunate because he was 
compelled to turn his attention to composition, and thereby 
produced many interesting works. In 1887 we find the 
MacDowells in their own home on the outskirts of Wies- 
baden, where the composer purchased a house with one-half 
acre of ground. There MacDowell found time to produce 
some of his lesser known works. The following year, how- 
ever, he was persuaded to return to the United States, and 
he sold his cottage to throw himself into the music life of 
his native land, Settling in Boston, he found the music life 
much to his liking. Pupils excited by his European prestige 
literally flocked to him. His orchestral works were regular- 
ly performed by leading orchestras. Asa soloist he appeared 
quite frequently in recitals and with the Kneisel Quartet. 

In 1894 MacDowell played his second concerto with the 
New York Philharmonic Society under Anton Seidl. It was 
then that the New York public and the New York crities 
opened their eyes and ears to the loftiness of the genius of 
Edward MacDowell. America at last had a master whose 
works could be placed upon the programs of great symphony 
orchestras without any suggestion that they were put there 
largely through a patriotic desire to foster American musical 
interests rather than that of catering sincerely to the real 
preferences of the audience. In fact all of the critics of the 
hour were unanimous in their praise. Encouraged by this, 
MacDowell gave two pianoforte recitals in the Concert Hal] 
of Madison Square Garden. 


MacDowell at Columbia 


The chair of music at Columbia University in New 
York is due to the munificence of Mrs. Elizabeth Mary 
Ludlow, who provided a fund of $150,000.00 for that 
purpose. In the fall of 
the same year MacDow- 
ell moved from Boston 
to New York to accept 
the position of Pro-’ 
fessor of Music at Co- 
lumbia. Naturally he 
gave much thought to 
this move. His teaching 
in Boston had been 
highly successful, and 
it would have been im- 
possible for him to have 
accepted more pupils. 
On the other hand, the 
post at Columbia pro- 
vided regular employ- 
ment and at the same 
time was possibly somewhat less precarious. His main 
difficulty lay in the work of establishing the new depart- 
ment, as he gave only about ten hours a week to actual 
class work. 

With systematic sincerity he at first mapped out very 
clearly in his mind what the department was expected 
to accomplish and expressed it in the following tenets: 


MACDOWELL 
FROM 


AT FOURTEEN, 
A SKETCH MADE 
BY HIMSELF, 


I. To teach music scientifically and technically 
with a view to training musicians who shall be 
competent to teach and compose. 


II. To teach music historically and zsthetically as 

an element of liberal culture. 

MacDowell was an indefatigable worker, and with his 
natural conscientiousness the ever-increasing work at Colum- 
bia proved too great a strain, His published lectures indi- 
cate the great care with which all of his work at the Uni- 
versity was done, 


Many have advanced the idea that it might have been 
better if MacDowell had been able to devote all of this time 
to composition and pianoforte playing, for which he had 
especially prepared himself. While his piano playing suf- 
fered, it is nevertheless a fact that many of his best pieces 
in certain forms were done during the Columbia days. 
Among these are the famous Norse Sonata and the Celtic 
Sonata, as well as the Sea Pictures, which have all brought 
his genius such high praise. 


MacDowell at Peterboro 


In the same year that he took up the Columbia pro- 
fessorship MacDowell bought a farm property at Peter- 
boro, New Hampshire. With fifty acres of delightful 
forest and fifteen acres of good farm land there was 
also a fine old house and some smaller buildings. There, 
in a log cabin in the woods he wrote most of his later 
compositions. His time was spent between his coun- 
try home and his winter residences jn New York. Dur- 
ing his last days he spent much of that sad, sad time 
at the Westminster Hotel on Irving Place, New York. 

The great strain at Columbia forced him to resign 
in 1904. Instead of resting he continually undertook 
more and more work, including teaching, which he did 
largely as a means of maintenance rather than for the 
love of the work. In 1905 the signals of the tragic end 
were noticed. Well in body, his magnificent intellect 
commenced to decay until he became like a little child. 
He passed on, January 23, 1908, when just reaching 
those years which find most men in their prime and 
which might indeed have been his prime if he had 
taken time for sufficient rest. 

As a motto for his last composition, From a Log 
Cabin, the composer had written. 

“A house of dreams untold, 
Ji looks out over the whispering tree-tops 
And faces the setting sun.” 


He applied for the post of head — -- 


on the crest of a hill not far from the little log cabin in 
which the composer wrote down so many of his splendid 
musical thoughts, What could be more characteristic of 
MacDowell’s simplicity and his Americanism than the little 
log cabin in the New Hampshire hills and the unhewed 
rock that lies above his last resting place? 


MacDowell as a Pianist 


As we have already noted, it was MacDowell’s origi- 
nal desire to become a pianist. Those who remember 
his playing well, among whom may be reckoned the 
Present writer, felt that it was rare because of, the 
performer’s wide understanding of the musical dimen- 
sions of the masterpieces he attempted to portray and 
because of the man’s unquestioned sincerity. While his 
technic was adequate in every way, he did not aspire 
to shine as a technicalist. His published exercises con- 
cern themselves rather with special forms demanding 
new hand positions than with the conventional scales, 
arpeggio and octave forms. MacDowell’s playing was 
characterized by its extreme clearness and beautiful 
effects achieved by the employment of the pedal. In 
such a composition as his very powerful March Wind 
he produced intense stringendo results that were always 
very impressive. While he frequently played his own 
compositions in response to popular demand, he was 
even more conscientious in his interpretations of the 
masters of the past. Had he done more public piano 
playing instead of devoting so much time to composi- 
tion and to teaching, there is no question that we 
would look back upon him as one of the foremost 
virtuosos of his century, 


MacDowell’s Compositions 


There are sixty-two opus numbers represented in Mac- 
Dowell’s compositions and some half dozen without opus 
numbers, Several piano numbers are sets of several pieces. 
Seventeen numbers are vocal, but these include several col- 
lections of from three to six songs. Henry T. Finck goes so 
far as to rank MacDowell with the very greatest song writers, 
Schubert, Franz and Grieg. There is no doubt that Mac- 
Dowell’s inspiration carried him at times to very great 
heights in his voeal works. and it is difficult for Americans 
anxiously seeking to find merit in the works of a fellow- 
citizen to appraise these works severely. It is accordingly 
very convincing to find Huropean critics among the most 
enthusiastic admirers of MacDowell as a song writer. Thy 
Beaming Eyes is doubtless one of the best songs yet pro- 
duced in this country from the standpoint of its wide appeal 
and its simple and masterly treatment. There are, however, 
many other MacDowell works which critics seem inclined to 
appraise higher than such. a song as Thy Beaming Byes. 
Such songs as In the Woods, Op. 28, No. 1, or The Robin 
Sings in the Apple Tree, or The Sea, represent the master’s 
strong inspiration and his highly cultivated taste in supply- 
ing appropriate musical background to the poet’s thought. 
MacDowell in some instances wrote the verses for his own 
Songs, and some of these are quite as delightful as the music, 
There are recorded over one hundred compositions for piano, 
and, as in the case of the songs, there are a few which have 
met with immense popular favor, such ag the Witches’ Dance, 
Scotch Poem and To a Wild Rose, while others more notable 


THE HOUSE OF DREAMS UNTOLD, 


MACDOWELL’S LOG CABIN, 
WHERE HE DID MOST OF HIS COMPOSING. 


34 


~Phese significant lines are How traced on a bronze tablet ~ 


~have been neglected. Th 
Concertos and Sonatas, ¢ 
well as the Twelve Virtuos 
Studies (Opus 46), repr 
sent the more pretentiorp 
of MacDowell’s works an 
in many ways his highes 
manifestation of musiciar 
ship, but at the same tim 
many of his smaller piece) 
show inspiration whic’ 
should not be discounte 
because of the lack of com 
plexity in their expression 
MacDowell’s piano work 
are exceedingly grateful, ij 
that their performang} 
brings that response fron 
MACDOWELL-WHEN A STUDENT, the instrument which th) 
FROM A PICTURE TAKEN BY player hears with delight 
TEMPLETON STRONG. Mor that reason they hayi 
been widely played by pian. 
ists in this country and abroad. Mme, Carrefio and Mme 
Samaroff are especially famed for their interpretation of 
MacDowell. 

The MacDowell compositions for chorus and orchestra are 
less widely known than those for voice and piano, but they| 
are nevertheless exceedingly interesting. The Indian Suite, 
employing aboriginal American Indian themes, attracted 
wide attention because of the ingenuity of the treatment of 
the melodies. MacDowell was inclined to resent the great 
public favor with which some of his works met, feeling all 
the while that his more worthy compositions should have an. 
audience, It is said that he maintained this attitude 
toward his earlier orchestral compositions, Lancelot and 
HLlaine and Hamlet and Ophelia. } 


1 


MacDowell the Man | 


Those who knew MacDowell were impressed first of 
all by his absolute sincerity in all that he did, his lack 
of pose, his detestition of ignorant applause and his. 
extreme sensitiveness. He was American to the core, 

Physically MacDowell was a handsome man. His 
body was robust and lithe. His strong blue eyes and. 
his firm flesh indicated fine bodily health. Indeed, 
there was a splendid vigor in all his movements, and 
his person at the keyboard was inspiring and impres- 
sive. With his friends he was genial, with strangers 
perhaps over-retiring. He was a fine conversationalist, 
ready with accurate and fitting words and not without. 
a touch of that Irish wit which is irreplacable. 

MacDowell had many close and valued friends in 
Europe and in America. Between him and Edvard 
Grieg there was an especially strong artistic bond, as 
is shown by their letters, Mr. Henry T. Finck was a 
great admirer of MacDowell, and _ this feeling was 
warmly reciprocated by the composer, 


The MacDowell Memorial Association 


The MacDowell Memorial Association was organized a few 
years after the death of the composer, to continue his 
memory in a manner more helpful than may be done in 
bronze or stone. Mrs, MacDowell by her tireless efforts has 
made this institution one of the most notable in the country. 
Together with the main buildings in which MacDowell re- 
sided there are several studios for work purposes, and there 
artists may go to live for stated periods to carry out their 
ideas. Although the institution is endowed, the creative 
workers residing there under very desirable Surroundings — 
must of course pay a moderate rate for their support. 
“Eligibility for membership in the colony is, generally | 
Speaking, approved talent youched for by at least two well- 
known people, and a declared purpose of specific creative 
work and adaptability for harmonious codperation in the life 
of the colony, which necessarily is largely self-governed.” — 

Every summer festivals and pageants are given in a great 


may easily be comprehended, 
work of Peterboro prosper richly as it deserves to prosper. 


Books on MacDowell 


Much has been written upon the subject of 
MacDowell, and among the best biographical articles 
are those which have come from the pen of his friend, 
Mr. Henry T. Finck, and Miss Jo-Shipley Watson, 
who was a pupil of MacDowell for some time. Edward 
MacDowell, a Study, by Lawrence Gilman, is an excep- 
tionally fine biography of the composer. 


Ten Test Questions 


1. Name some prominent American musicians preceding 
MacDowell. 


2. Tell something about MacDowell’s ancestry. 

3. When and where was MacDowell born? 

4. Who were MacDowell’s early teachers in America? j 

5. When did MacDowell go to Paris? With whom did 
he study there? 

6. Who were MacDowell’s teachers in Germany? What 
important position did he hold in Germany? 

7. What great pianist befriended MacDowell? 

8. When did MacDowell teach at Columbia University? 

9. Tell something of MacDowell’s best known works. 


10. When and where did MacDowell die? What is the 
MacDowell Memorial Association ? 


ip 


oT 


UL 


DR. MASON’S PERIOD. 


LookING over the great sea of history one views 
an interminable expanse of waves. Waves of 
war and waves of peace. Waves of human in- 
dustry and waves of idleness. Waves of bril- 
liance in human achievement and waves of 
mediocrity. Following our last war with Great 
Britain, there was in this country what was 
called an “era of good feeling”’ The making of a 
new country was a big task for big men, and they were 
not wanting in our early national history. Henry Clay, 
Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun and Andrew Jackson 
(“Old Hickory”) were types of Americans singularly 
representative of the youthful vigor and force of the 
United States” It is not surprising, then, that in our 
musical culture of the time we should find such a stal- 
wart as Lowell Mason who in many ways was not 
unlike the great statesmen of the period in his cease- 
less industry, his breadth of view, his native keenness 
and his patriotic desire to do something of permanent 
value for his country. 

DR. MASON’S ANCESTRY. 


. William Mason, was the third son of Lowell 
Mason, of Medfield, Mass., and of Abigail Gregory, of 
Westborough, Mass., his wife. Both parents were of 
a long line of New England ancestry. In 1830, Robert 
Mason, an Englishman, came to the United States and 
landed at Salem. His son Thomas settled in Medfield, 
Mass., and the homestead lands he acquired have re- 
mained in the possession of the Mason family ever 
since. When the village of Medfield was burned by 
the Indians in 1676 Thomas Mason and two of his sons 
were slaughtered. Lowell Mason was born January 
8, 1792. He was instructed in the elements of music 
hy local teachers, and when the young man went to 
Savannah, Ga., to take a position he became the pupil 
of F. L. Abel, who encouraged him to compose hymns. 
In 1822 he published a collection of music known as 
The Boston Handel and Haydn's Society’s Collection 
of Music. This was remarkably successful and was 
widely used in the choirs and the singing schools of the 
day. Such works were in great demand in that day, 
and we are not surprised to learn that one of his books 
brought him the sum of $100,000.00 in royalties. This 
sum seems inconsiderable when we remember how ex: 
tensively Dr. Mason’s hymns, Nearer My God to Thee 
Greenland’s Icy Mountains, Boylston, Hebron, Olivet 
and others have been sung, and the comfort and in- 
spiration they have brought to thousands. 

Dr. Lowell Mason’s efforts to promote musical edu- 
cation in the public schools were too important to esti- 
mate. He worked night and day to spread the gospel 
of music. Even in Boston he was obliged to serve 
without pay for one year to convince the City Council 
that music in the schools deserved public support. 

MUSIC TEACHERS’ ASSEMBLIES. 


Another innovation of Lowell Mason was his plan of 
assembling music teachers in classes. At his Academy 
of Music in Boston teachers came from most of the 
eastern States for the purpose of refreshing their musi- 
cal information. In 1837 he went abroad and learned 
much from European methods. His published experi- 
ences, Musical Letters from Abroad, all show that he 
was in many ways far in advance of his contemporary 
Americans in his appreciation of what was needed for 

the music of America of that time. Indeed, it. was 
through the efforts of Lowell Mason, George ij Webb 
and Henry Schmidt that the first Beethoven Sym- 
phony performance took place in America in 1841, when 
the Fifth was given with the aid of a symphony or- 
chestra of twenty-three men, conducted by Henry 
Schmidt. 

After a long life of constant activity and real value 
to American music, Lowell Mason died at Orange, 
N. J., in 1872. It is interesting to note that Barachias 
Mason, grandfather of Lowell Mason, who graduated 
from Harvard University as long ago as 1742, was a 
well-known teacher of singing schools. Daniel Gregory 
Mason, the well-known writer and composer, and Henry 
Mason, are nephews of Dr. William Mason. 


“The time has gone by when it was necessary for 
students of the piano to go abroad to complete a musi- 


cal education.’-—Dr. Mason in 1901. 


EARLY YEARS. 


Dr. William Mason was born in Boston, January 4, 
1829. His father was then organist of the Bowdoin 
Street Congregational Church, in Boston. When the 
boy was a tiny tot of seven Lowell Mason placed him 
upon the organ bench and let him play the hymn 
Boylston while the choir sang. His instruction had 
come principally from his mother, although his whole 
home atmosphere was musical. 

Lowell Mason saw a valuable asset in his son, and 
took him to frequent conventions where the boy played 
the piano accompaniments. The boy’s next teacher was 
a congregational clergyman in Newport, R. L, the Rev. 
T. T. Thayer. There he commenced playing the organ 
for the church services, and this shortly led to a reg- 
ular appointment as organist of a congregational 
church in Boston. 

William Mason’s first public appearance as a pianist 
took place in 1846 at the Odeon in Boston, where h« 
performed the accompaniment for a string quartet. 

At this time Henry Schmidt, a violinist, who also 
taught piano, was one of the leading musicians of Bos- 
ton, and young Mason was placed under his care. A 
tale of student days is given in Dr. Mason’s very in- 
teresting Memories of a Musical Life. The boy dreaded 
regular practice and would far rather spend his time in 
improyvization. Schmidt scolded him for it. Accordingly 
William prepared the next lesson with especial care 
When the lesson time came he was nervous and was 
again scolded for failure to practice. This made him 
indignant and he neglected his practice entirely. When 
the next lesson came he played so well that his teacher 
complimented him, and it was then that the student 
learned that practice may not show its real worth at 
once, but may affect later work in an astonishing way. 


YEARS ABROAD. 


In 1849 William Mason set out for Bremen on the 
side-wheel steamer Herrmann. It will be remembered 
that this was the year of the famous insurrection in 
Saxony, in which Richard Wagner took an unfortu1.ate 
part. Mason had planned to study with Moscheles in 
Leipsic, but abandoned it for a trip to Paris, where he 
had a chance meeting with Meyerbeer. From Paris he 
went to Hamburg, where he stayed for a time with the 
music publisher Schuberth. Schuberth took a great in- 


35 


+ im 


mute 


eet 


terest in the talented boy and suggested that he 
dedicate a recently written piece, Les Perles de 
Rosée, to Liszt. Liszt, at the instigation of 
Schuberth, accepted the dedication, and with this 
encouragement the young man felt emboldened 
to write to the greatest pianist of the time, and 
J ask if he might become a pupil of the master. 
The reply came couched in such words that Mason mis- 
understood Liszt’s meaning. The result was that in- 
stead of going at once to Weimar to become a pupil 
he deferred this until four years yater. He did, 
however, visit Liszt at Weimar on the occasion of a 
Goethe Festival, and was most cordially received. 


IN LEIPSIC. 
In Leipsic Liszt first studied with Moscheles. Mos- 
cheles had been a pupil of Dionysius Weber, who 


had been so conservative that he abhorred Beethoven. 
Mason was accordingly surprised to find that Moscheles 
had himself turned into a conservative and would have 
nothing to do with Chopin. In later years the famous 
American teacher wrote, “They forget that in their 
youths they laughed at or criticized their elders for 
the same pedantry of which they themselves afterward 
became guilty.” 

It was the good fortune of young Mason to meet 
and converse with many famous musicians, among the 
first of whom was Robert Schumann, who gave him 
his autograph. 

While in Leipsic Mason studied with Moritz Haupt- 
mann in harmony and counterpoint, and with Ernst 
Friedrich Richter in instrumentation. Hauptmann, by 
the way, was induced to examine a book of Lowell 
Mason’s hymns, etc., and after a careful perusal re- 
ported that he was very much gratified with the har- 
monies and the leading of the voices adopted by the 
American composer. 

In 1852 Mason had the good luck to meet a brother 
of Richard Wagner (Albert Wagner), and in this way 
found an introduction to the master, who was just then 
beginning to be recognized as a great composer. The 
meeting came about in Zurich while young Mason was 
on a tour with his parents. Wagner made a very great 
impression upon the American student. Mason found 
him “more like an American than a German,” and tells 
of a long fluent monologue in which Wagner devoted 
himself to Mendelssohn. Wagner invited Mason to go 
on a foot tour with him, but this was not possible be- 
cause Lowell Mason and his wife were more or less 
dependent upon their son as an interpreter. 


WITH DREYSCHOCK IN PRAGUE. 


In 1850 Mason went to Prague, Bohemia, to study with 
Dreyschock who at that time had a great reputation as a 
teacher of technic, particularly octave playing. Mason re- 
mained with him for over a year taking three lessons a 
week and practicing five hours a day. Before leaving, the 
American pianist appeared ata publie concert in Prague, 
playing Dreyschock’s Salut @ Vienne. 

In 1852 Mason spent the better part of the Winter in 
Frankfurt am Main where he met many interesting musi- 
cians, among them Anton Schindler, Beethoven's friend. 
In the following January he was invited to Sir Julius 
ea to go to London to play at a concert at Exeter 

all. 


WITH LISZT AT WEIMAR. 


In April, 1853, Mason decided to make another at- 
tempt to study with Franz Liszt, and accordingly went 
direct to Weimar. Liszt informed him that he had 
been waiting for him to come for four years. Mason, 
much astonished, then learned that he had mistaken the 
master’s letter. At the time Liszt had only two other 
pupils, Karl Klindworth and Dionys Pruckner, Joachim, 
Raff and Hans von Biilow, however, frequently came 
back to the lessons, which were never given at set 
hours and which were free to the pupils, Liszt receiv- 
ing his income from other sources. Raff became very 
much attached to Mason, and when, nineteen years 
later, Mason visited him in Frankfurt Raff ceased his 
lessons the moment he heard that he had arrived and 
came running downstairs to greet his old friend by 
flinging his arms around his neck and hugging him. 


DEBUT IN THE HOMELAND. 

In 1854 Dr. Mason re- 
turned to America with 
his parents and settled in 
Orange, N. J., a suburb 
of New York City. He 
determined to undertake 
an American tour, but 
met the difficulty of per- 
suading the public that a 
whole evening of piano 
playing not interspersed 
with singing or some 
other music 
could be made interest- 
ing, Even Gottchalk de- 
pended upon 
of this kind, 
piano recital was altogether new to America. 
of his program was to improvise upon themes sub- 
mitted to him by the audience. Some of his work 
was done in the Middle West at a time when that 
came not so far from the frontiers of our settled sec- 


form of 


assistance 


WILLIAM MASON AS A BOY. 


and the 
A part 


tions, Once when the heat had been excessive he had 
the bravery to appear in a costume composed of the 
upper part of a linen “duster” in lieu of a dress coat. 
While the programs of the time were more or 
less primitive Mason always saw to it that there 
were representative numbers by Chopin, Liszt, 
3eethoven, Bach and Schumann, but it must 
have been very strange for the young man so 
recently emerged from the great music centres 
of Germany to have his audiences request him 
to edify them by playing Yankee Doodle with 
one hand and Old Hundred with the other. 


WORK IN MUSICAL EDUCATION. 

In 1855, Dr. Mason started his work in 
music teaching, which continued for half a cen- 
tury. His first position was in a fashionable 
school for girls in New York. He was equipped 
with the best imaginable training in music, a 
life long association with famous musical peo- 
ple, a natural tendency to investigate technical 
problems seriously and conscientiously, and a 
similar native ingenuity in devising special 
exercises based upon scientific principles to 
solve troublesome matters. From the very 
start he found that a proper attention to 
rhythm in all his technical exercises was very 
essential. 


INGENIOUS TECHNICAL EXERCISES. 


He also introduced the use of the full arm in such a 
manner that a particularly responsive touch was in- 
sured. Next he employed the famous two-finger exer- 
cise through various forms in such manner that very 
rapid results ensued. This exercise was highly en- 
dorsed by Franz Liszt, who also used it in his own 
daily practice as a time-saver in technic. Finally Mason 
saw the necessity for the publication of his valuable 
exercises in book form, and the ultimate result of this 
was Touch and Technic, a work in four volumes, the 
first of which was devoted to the two-finger exercise, 
the second to scales, the third to arpeggios and the 
fourth to octaves and bravoura playing. Up to that 
time books upon technic had been very much the same 
in all essential details. Here at last was a work rep- 
resenting new and original thought with explanatory 
notes written by an able teacher. Practical teachers 
saw at once that there were ideas and exercises of a 
new and most interesting character. The work was 
exceptionally successful from the start, and has won 
the highest praise, not only from Liszt, Joseffy, Gabrilo- 
witsch, Paderewski and other great virtuosos, but from 
thousands of teachers who employ it constantly in their 
daily work. 


E. M. BOWMAN 


THEODORE THOMAS, 


In the fifties Mason as- 
sociated himself with Theo- 
dore Thomas, Joseph Mos- 
enthal, Carl Bergmann and 
George Matzka in chambel 
music concerts, which were 
given with great success at 
Dodworth’s Hall at Broad: 
way and Bleventh Street, 
New York. The club was 
most progressive in its pro- 
grams, Brahm’s Trio for 
piano, violin and ‘cello be 
ing one of the numbers 
played in 1855 at the first 
public concert. The quar- 
tet was known as the Ma- 
son-Thomas quartet and 
made innumerable success- 
ful appearances. Their 
programs were perhaps of 
a higher order than those 
of either Gottschalk or 
Thalberg who had long been the lions of New York. 

Mason knew Gottschalk very well indeed and tells how 
the older pianist advised him to avoid Schumann because 
his music lacked “‘melody, spontaneity and naiveté.’”’ Mason 
speaks of Gottschalk's clear, sparkling playing in the high- 
est terms but makes a point of declaring that Gottschalk 
was incapable as an interpreter of classical music. 

Thalberg and Mason were the best of friends. The 
former lived in the home of Mason's brother at East Orange 


WILLIAM MASON 
at the age of eighteen. 


for some weeks and Mason was in daily association with 
him, playing duets with him and in fact learning much 


from the great contemporary of Liszt, Mason calls atten- 


tion to the fact that Thalberg’s very fluent technic was 
ae Be of not striking the keys from too great a 
1elght, 


DR. MASON AT THE PIANO. 


A MASON PROGRAM. 
Many of the compositions of Dr. Mason which have 


become popular are far from being simple. The fol- 
lowing is a representative list: 

GRADE 
DonsenRustiques ©pus l6s.aee ear heirs 6 
Danse Rustique, Opus 16 (four hands)........ 5 


Home, Sweet Home (to be played with one 
finger as a pedal study) 
MonodyOpusan... .a: >. tecrei eee eeree 
Prelude in Fo Opus. 46; Now2rn. sapere ee 
StlverlS pring: Opus. 6: os. vaste eerie ees 
Spring Dawn, Mazurka Caprice, Opus 20,...... 
Toccatina;, Opus,46, No, lminae eae ee nine 
Sabotiere. (Dance of the Sabots):.............. 
Danse Antique, Opust38... eee eke aie 
Au Matin, Revere. Wels «: sae eee Co eachiak 
Ballade aud arcarollee,.,. . mae © rela 
Novelette 
Serenata (from a piece for piano and ’cello).. 
Two Album Leaves, Opus 45... .5... 02.00 nen cues 
Dr. Mason also did splendid service in editing new 
editions of famous masterpieces for the piano. 


BENDWWWANDHA NHL 


AY | 
W. S. B. MATHEWS 


= 


NOTED CONTEMPORARIES AND COLLEAGUES OF DR. MASON, 


36 


sp XN 
ALBERT ROSS PARSONS 


A REMARKABLE CAREER. 

Dr. Mason’s eighty years enabled him to view the 
development of music in America from a standpoint 
which few other men 
possessed. His personal- 
ity was such that he made 
many friends, and from 
them he learned their 
most intimate views. All 
the American musicians 
of note he knew as his 
brothers. Among his in- 
timates were W. H. Sher- 
wood, W. S. B. Matthews 
and E. M. Bowman, none 
of whom survived him 
by many years. His pu- 
pils have been exception- 
ally successful as pianists. 
Dr. Mason’s playing was 
particularly clear and 
clean. Every phrase was finely cut, and his inborn 
rhythmic sense and delightful touch gave it a charm 
that many will never forget. E. M. Bowman described 
it in these words: 

“To him music was the art beautiful. Tone that was 
strident or noisy, effects that were extravagant and 
bizarre, found no toleration in his playing, his teach- 
ing, or his hearing.” 

The wide span of his life took him from the 
days of Moscheles and Dreyschock to those of 
his later intimates, Hans von Bulow, Edvard 
Grieg and I. J. Paderewski. His artistic 
sympathy touched all boundaries of his art. 

In 1872 Yale University conferred the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Music upon Mason 
in recognition of his valuable services for 
music in the United States. 

Dr. Mason died in New York of heart dis- 
ease, July 14th, 1908, beloved by hosts of 
friends and pupils. 


DR, LOWELL MASON, 


Father of William Mason. 


DR. MASON’S COMPOSITIONS. 


On the whole, Dr. Mason is very greatly 
under-appreciated as a composer. He had a 
distinctive style in many of his works, and his 
melodies are often rich and spontaneous. While 
he did not succeed in leaving us anything of 
permanent value in the so-called larger forms, 
there are many of his pianoforte works which 
are marked by a finish and character which 
place them among the finest pieces composed 
for the instrument. 

As a composer Dr. Mason holds a unique 
position. It was possible for him to cater to 
the public taste to the extent of writing a somewhat 
bizarre galop after the fashion of the concert pieces 
of the time. We must remember that in a growing 
country there must be log cabins before there can be 
palaces and temples. At no time, however, did Dr. 
Mason stoop to mercenary depths, but he was not 
above taking little themes like Malbrook (We Wont 
Get Home Until Morning), Buy a Broom and Polly 
Hopkins, and making a very charming series of first 
grade duets from them, 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


Tell something of Mason’s distinguished ancestry. 
When and where was Mason born? 
When did Mason make his first American appearance? 
Who were Mason’s best known teachers in Burope 
and in America? 
5. How long did Mason remain under noted Buropean 
masters? 
6. When did Mason return to America? 
_ 7. With what famous conductor was Mason associated in 
New York? 
8. From which university 
degree of Doctor of Music? 
9, What famous composer dedicated a set of variations 
on “Yankee Doodle” to Dr. Mason? 
10. When and where did Dr. Mason die? 


i 0) bor 


did Dr. Mason receive his 


wae 


a 


ya 


B. J. LANG 


ma 


MENDELSSOHN’S EPOCH. 


From a standpoint of time Mendelssohn's era was 
no different from that of Schumann, Chopin, Wag- 
ner and other composers who have already been 
discussed in this series. However, in cons-:dering 
Mendelssohn we may gain much light upon his career 
by reflecting upon the wonderful race of which he 
was a notable example. 

Sebastian Hensel, nephew of Felix Mendelssohn, devotes 
the first chapter of his two-volume work, The Mendelssohn 
Family, to a review of the position of the Jews in the 
centuries immediately preceding the lifetime of Mendelssohn. 
Persecutions of an altogether absurd and unjust nature had 
superseded a foregoing era when Jews were mercilessly 
murdered ‘for the glory of God.’ ‘Their places of residence 
were limited to the most undesirable parts of the cities. 
Marriages were ridiculously restricted. Only a very few 
occupations, such, for instance, as buying and selling old 
clothes and the still more unlovely trade of usury, were 
open te the children of Israel, They were likewise com- 
pelled to purchase the waste china at the Royal China 
Factory upon the occasion of a marriage in a Hebrew fam- 
ily. In this way Moses Mendelssohn, grandfather of Felix, 
came into possession of twenty absolutely worthless life- 
size china apes. 

Despite these infamies the Jewish race has held its in- 
tegrity through the centuries in unexampled manner. With 
the advance of learning and the extension of toleration in 
religious matters the spirit of oppression changed materially. 
New industries and new professions were opened to the 
Jews and many magnificent thinkers evolved from human 
material that had previously been compelled to stagnate. 
Among these philosophers Moses Mendelssohn may be re- 
garded as a pioneer, and since many of the distinctions his 
grandson Felix was destined to enjoy at a later age were 
due in a large measure to the reforms which the great 
Moses instituted in and out of Jewry, the ancestry of the 
composer becomes particularly interesting. 


MENDELSSOHN’S ANCESTORS. 


The great-grandfather of Felix Mendelssohn was 
one Mendel Dessau (Mendel of Dessau). After the 
custom of the times in countries where there is great 
similarity of family names, Mendel’s son became Men- 
del’s Sohn or Mendelssohn. This particular Mendels- 
sohn was known as Moses. After a childhood of 
direct want during which he lived in a garret and 
subsisted upon a loaf of bread a week, he gradually 
ascended the social and educational scale until he won 
the high respect of Jews and Gentiles alike. 

How difficult his path was may be imagined from 
the fact that although he was born in Dessau, Germany, 
at as late a date as 1729, conditions were such that he 
was not permitted to learn the German language until 
he was fifteen years old. It seems almost miraculous 
that he was able to rise above such conditions, gain 
the support of the leading men of his day, such as 
Kant and Lavater, produce a philosophical work that 
has been translated in many languages, and ultimately 
become the central character of the immortal drama 
of Lessing, Nathan the Wise. But anyone who has 
ever read any of the magnificent thoughts of this mis- 
shapen, humpbacked, stammering little Jew can clearly 
see that his lofty conception of the brotherhood of 
man was the power which brought about this miracle. 


MENDELSSOHN’S FAMILY. 


Moses Mendelssohn married the daughter of a merchant 
of Hamburg. Their son, Abraham Mendelssohn, became 
one of the best known bankers of his day. He married one 
Leah Salomon, a highly accomplished young woman of an 
excellent Jewish family. Leah spoke Latin, French, Ger- 
man, Italian and Greek, and was acquainted with the pro- 
gressive thought of the day. Her brother had embraced the 
Christian faith and assumed the name of Bartholdy, after 
that of the proprietor of a summer garden in Paris which 
had come into the possession of the Salomon family. After 
Leah’s marriage with Abraham Mendelssohn her brother 
succeeded in inducing them to attach the name of Bartholdy 
to that of Mendelssohn and also persuaded them to bring 
up their children in the Christian faith. Abraham 
Mendelssohn's. brothers remained Jews in belief, but two 
of his sisters became Roman Catholics. In order that the 
Protestant Christian branch might be distinguished from 
the Jewish branch Abraham took his brother-in-law’s counsel 
and Mendelssohn became Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. In doing 
this he attributed his action to the same motive of progress 
which animated his father in much of the work which the 
venerable philosopher Moses Mendelssohn accomplished. 

Abraham Mendelssohn and Leah Salomon were the parents 
of three brilliant children, Fanny (born 1805), Rebecca 
(born 1811), and the subject of the present sketch, 


ETM eed 


OO OOOO OOO OO} 


1809—The Real Mendelssohn—1847 


EETES BL IES BY SLES 


ae 
Dy Sass A 


“T feel that in every fresh piece I succeed better in 
learning to write exactly what is in my heart, and 
after all that is the only right way I know.” 


MENDELSSOHN’S EARLY YEARS. 


Felix Mendelssohn was born February 3, 1809, in 
Hamburg. A few years later, the inconveniences of 
living in a city occupied by hostile French rulers forced 
the family to move to Berlin where the composer spent 
the better part of his youth. His first steps in music 
were tenderly superintended by his mother. Among 
his early instructors were Mme. Bigot with whom he 
studied during a short sojourn in Paris, Ludwig Berger 
(piano), Carl Friedrich Zelter (thoroughbass and com- 
position), Henning (violin), Rosel (landscape painting), 
Heyse (general subjects). In all his study, his sisters 
Fanny and Rebecca were his constant companions. 

As early as 1818 he appeared in public with a per- 


MENDELSSOHN’S WORKROOM IN LEIPSIG. 


37 


Dio Peo 


former named Gugi, with whom he played the 
piano part of a trio for two horns and piano- 
forte. At eleven he became an alto in the chorus 
of the Singakademie, an institution founded in 
1791 designed to promote choral music. 
Mendelssohn’s regular work in composition dates 
from 1820. Despite the wealth of his father, his youth 
was by no means an easy one. He was obliged to 
rise at five in the morning and study hard for the 
better part of the day. How methodical he was may 
be estimated by the fact that most of his works were 
carefully transcribed by himself in manuscript volumes 
made and kept by the composer himself. These may 
be seen complete in forty-four volumes now preserved 
in the Royal Library at Berlin. In the volume for 
his twelfth year are to be seen some sixty movements. 


MENDELSSOHN’S YOUTH. 


By the year 1821 the accomplishments of Mendelssohn 
were already attracting wide attention. In the same year 
the little composer visited the great poet, Goethe, who, 
though not especially musical, took a great interest in the 
boy. Operas, symphonies, quartets and other works came 
now in rapid succession. Some were so mature in style that 


they have been preserved. The Symphony in C minor was 
written when the boy was barely fifteen. In the same year 
Moscheles gave Felix daily lessons in pianoforte playing 


for six weeks. 

In 1825 the family moved to a house known as “No. 3 
Leipziger Strasse.” There, amid some ten acres of garden 
and park land, Mende'ssohn was fortunate enough to spend 
some of the most impressionable years of his life. The 
house was large and comfortable, but there was another 
attraction to the place which made this residence a memor- 
able one for the music-loving boy. In the garden was a 


huge house known as the “Gartenhaus,’”’ and in this was a 


large room capable of holding several hundred persons. 
There the Mendelssohn family held Sunday afternoon 
musicales, which became memorable to all who attended, 


MENDELSSOHN IN PARIS. 
In 1825 Mendelssohn’s 


ness trip to Paris. 


father took the boy on a busi- 
There he met Hummel, Herz, 
Halévy, Kalkbrenner, Rode, Kreutzer, Rossini, Paer, 
Meyerbeer, Cherubini and others. The last named, 
though always very reticent in his praise, lauded Men- 
delssohn to the skies. Composition followed composi- 
tion so rapidly that it is not feasible to catalog them 
in a biography of the dimensions of the present one. 
In 1825 Mendelssohn finished the score of his two-act 
opera Camacho’s Wedding (founded upon an incident 
in Don Quixote). Then came the remarkable Octet 
for strings (Opus 20) and other notable works. 


MENDELSSOHN’S PRECOCIOUS MASTERPIECE, 


Mendelssobn’s immortal Midsummer Night’s Dream over- 
ture, written in 1826 when the boy was only seventeen 
years old, remains to this day the most astonishing piece 
of precocity in musical composition. Few composers have 
approached this fairy classic. Elfin wings whir through 
the whole composition and the imagery of Shakespeare is 
preserved in the most delicate of tonal tints. In 1827 
Mendelssohn’s opera Camacho was produced at Berlin, under 
the direction of Spontini. The first performance was un- 
questionably a success, but subsequent performances were 
prevented by jealousies and by the illness of one of the 
singers. Meantime his general education was continued at 
the University of Berlin, where he was for a time under 
the tuition of the great philosopher Hegel. He was gifted 
in languages, and his translations from Latin and Italian 
verse were numerous and fluent. 


THE BACH REVIVAL. 


In 1827 Mendelssohn founded a chorus of sixteen 
voices which met in his home on Saturday nights for 
the purpose of studying the choral works of J. S. 
Bach. With the formation of this chorus may be said 
to date the great revival of interest in the works of 
Bach after nearly a century of neglect. In fact, on 
Wednesday, March 1829, the first public perform- 
ance of the St. Matthew Passion since the death of 
Bach took place in the Singakademie Hall under the 
direction of Mendelssohn. 


FANNY HENSEL, MENDELSSOHN’S SISTER. 


THE COMPOSER’S FIRST VISIT TO LONDON. 


In the same year Mendelssohn made his first visit to 
London, where some of his music had already become 
popular. His winning personality, his modesty, his un- 
questioned thoroughness, all won him immediately the love 
and admiration of the English people. He was made an 
honorary member of the Philharmonic Society of London 
and was entertained very extensively. Returning to 
Germany in the fall of the year he was proposed as the 
Professor of Music at the Berlin University, but did not 
take the position. His next journey in search of experiences 
was to Austria and Italy. 

In 1832 Mendelssohn found himself in London again. 
Naturally he was made the lion of the musical world. 
Welcomed everywhere, his cordial nature rejoiced continually 
upon finding new friends. As a pianist, a composer and as 
an organist he was enthusiastically admired. His Hebrides 
Overture was given by the Philharmonic Society and 
Mendelssohn presented the score to the society. Novello 
published the first volume of his Songs Without Words 
under the title Original Melodies for the Piano. In 1833 
he made a third visit to London. 

The same year Mendelssohn arranged to settle in Dtissel- 
dorf. His success in conducting the Lower Rhine Musical 
Festival had made him especially popular, and he found 
the life of Diisseldorf greatly to his liking. For a time he 
conducted the performances at the theatre, but this proved 
distasteful to him. 


MENDELSSOHN AT THE GEWANDHAUS. 


Through the influence of a friend he secured the enviable 
post of conductor of the Gewandhaus Concerts of Leipzig. 
Here again Mendelssohn became the idol of the town. In 
1886 the university which had previously denied him the 
professorship of music conferred the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Phiiosophy upon him. In 1835 Mendelssohn’s 
father, to whom he was greatly devoted, died, after a short 
illness. Under the stress of his grief he worked day and 
night upon St. Paul. The oratorio was first performed at 
the Diisseldorf Festival in May, 1836. 

During the same year Mendelssohn went to Frankfort to 
superintend the concerts of the Ciicilien-Verein. There he 
met Cecile Charlotte Sophie Jeanrenaud, the daughter of 
the pastor of a French Reformed Church. They were mar- 
ried on October 2d of the same year. It would be difficult 
to imagine a happier wedded life than that of the 
Mendelssohns. 


FOUNDING THE LEIPZIG CONSERVATORY. 


In 1837 Mendelssohn made a fifth visit to England, 
conducting his already famous St. Paul at Birmingham. 
The ensuing years were full of active interest for all 
who surrounded him, In 1841 Mendelssohn returned to 
3erlin where he was engaged as the Capellmeister for 
the King of Prussia, and conducted many important 
performances. His music for Sophocles’ Antigone was 
produced at this time, In 1842 he visited London for 
the seventh time when many of his works were per- 
formed. Leipzig and the open-hearted Saxons were too 
attractive to Mendelssohn and he found himself drawn 
from the austere atmosphere of Berlin to the city of 
his choice. Accordingly in 1843 the great Leipzig Con- 
servatorium was started under the modest title of 
“Music School.” Among the teachers were Mendels- 
sohn, Hauptmann, David, Schumann and others. An 
eighth trip to London was made in 1845 when his 
concerts were more successful than ever. Upon return- 
ing to Germany Mendelssohn made every effort to 
gain the consent of the King to free him from his 
duties in Berlin. The King let him off from his duties 
and good-naturedly gave him a salary of 1000 thalers 
a year. Berlin, forever cold to Mendelssohn, per- 
mitted him to leave its musical circles in November, 
1845. In the same year he received an enthusiastic 


‘nvitation from New York.to conduct a musical fes- 
tival. Unfortunately he did not accept. Mendelssohn 
returned to Leipzig, where he taught the pianoforte 
and composition at the conservatorium in addition to 
being the head of the institution. 


“ELIJAH.” 


In 1846 Zlijah was completed and the work first given 
on August 26th of that year at Birmingham, England, 
under the. direction of Mendelssohn, From the standpoint 
of popular appreciation this was the triumphant moment 
of Mendelssohn’s life. In 1847 Mendelssohn made another 
trip to England, conducting Alijah in London and in Man- 
chester. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert attended his 
concerts and took great interest in his work. 

Fanny Mendelssohn died at Berlin in May, 1847. Her 
close attachment to her brother in all his life work made 
them far more deyoted to each other than most brothers 
and sisters. When Mendelssohn heard of her death he 
fell insensible and did not recover for some hours. In fact 
he never entirely recovered from the _ shock. Fanny 
Mendelssohn had become the wife of Wilhelm Hensel, who, 
like the wife of Felix, was a Gentile, the son of a poor 
country parson, Their married life was altogether ideal. 
Hensel was an artist of ability and his home became the 
centre for a coterie of art-workers. Fanny was especially 
gifted as a musician. Mendelssohn thought her more tal- 
ented than himself in some ways. In fact some of her 
songs were published with his without any reference to her 
authorship and were attributed to Mendelssohn (Opus 8, 
Nos. 2, 3, 12; Opus 9, Nos. 7, 10, 12). She also published 
several compositions under her own name. Felix solicited 
her judgment upon all his manuscripts whenever it was 
obtainable, 


MENDELSSOHN’S LAST DAYS. 


After the death of his sister Fanny, Mendelssohn 
was unreconcilable. He traveled in Switzerland for 
a time, but was unable to work at composition. During 
this period he devoted a short time almost every day 
to producing thirteen large water-color paintings, said 
to have been of high artistic merit. All through his 
life he made drawing and painting an avocation and 
spent much time in the pursuit of this form of plastic 
art. His efforts at composition became fragmentary, 
and except the String Quartet in F Minor, snatches 
of his projected opera, Lorely, his partly completed 
oratorio Christus, a few songs, and a few religious 
works, he did nothing. His only consolation was found 
with his wife and his children. A great performance 
of Elijah was projected for Berlin on November third 
and another in Vienna. Mendelssohn saw that it would 
be impossible to conduct these performances and aban- 
doned them. In October he became very ill with “vio- 
lent pains in his head” and grew rapidly worse. 
Bulletins were constantly posted at the street corners 
in Leipzig stating his condition. His last moments 
came on November 4, 1847. Thousands witnessed the 
funeral cortege with bowed heads. Preceding the 
hearse came a band playing the Song Without Words 
from Book 5 No. 3, orchestrated as a funeral march 
by Moscheles. Following this came a student of the 
Conservatory bearing a cushion upon which rested a 
silver crown which had been given to Mendelssohn 
by the Conservatory. Many societies, guilds, govern- 
ment officers, University officials came later in the pro- 
cession. 


MENDELSSOHN’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Mendelssohn's countenance was decidedly Hebraic, Thack- 
eray declared it “The most beautiful face I have ever seen. 
Like what I imagine our Saviour’s to have been.” His 
expression was kind-hearted, animated, loving and bore 
“a most unmistakable look of genius.” His broad fore- 
head was crowned with thick, black wavy hair. Con- 
temporaries dwell long upon his remarkable brown eyes, 
which could at times ‘‘glow like those of a tiger,’? and at 
others “melt with compassion.” His mouth was delicate 
and expressive and his teeth very regular and white. 

Mendelssohn’s personality was so charming that he 
numbered his friends by the hundreds, His regular habits 
and great industry account for the vast amount of music 
he produced in thirty-eight years and also for the vol- 
uminous correspondence, public duties, sketches and 
numerous tours as a yirtuoso pianist, organist and con- 
ductor. Wis dominant trait was his glorious cheerfulness 
and his gift for imparting this spirit to all his associates. 


MENDELSSOEN AS A PIANIST, ORGANIST AND 
CONDUCTOR. 


Clara Schumann in speaking of Mendelssohn’s piano 
playing said: “Of -+mere effects of performance he 
knew nothing. He was always the great musician 
and in hearing him one forgot the player and revelled 
in the full enjoyment of the music. He could carry 
one with him in the most incredible manner, and his 
playing was always stamped with beauty and nobility.” 
His improvising always amazed those who heard him. 

In addition to being a fine pianist, Mendelssohn was 
one of the most extraordinary organists of his time. 
Mendelssohn studied the violin and the viola in his 


38 . 


youth but played them with much less skill than the 
pianoforte or the organ. As a conductor Mendelssohn 
was said to have been incomparably fine. 


MENDELSSOHN’S COMPOSITIONS. 


One catalog of Mendelssohn’s works takes up five large 
pages in fine print. From this it is evident that we can 
do little more here than mention a few of his most im- 
portant works, Among the choral works, the most noted 
are St. Paul, Hlijah, Christus (unfinished), Hymn of Praise, 
The First Walpurgis Night, Athalie, music to A Midsummer 
Night’s Dream, Antigone, Oedipus Festgesinge, The Wed- 
dng of Camacho, Lauda Sion, 'Hear My Prayer, Motets, 
Poalms, ete. Twenty-eight quartets for male voices, 13 
duets, 83 songs. His most notable orchestral works are 
his four symphonies, six concert overtures, two concertos, 
two capriccios and a Rondo Brillant for piano and orches- 
tra, and the splendid E minor yiolin concerto, His cham- 
ber music includes many quartets, ‘quintets, trios, ete. The 
most noted of his piano works were the Songs Without 
Words, the very popular Rondo Cappriccioso, three sonatas, 
some preludes and fugues, and some variations. His organ 
sonatas are among the best works written for the instru- 
ment. 


BOOKS ABOUT MENDELSSOHN. 


Probably one of the very best lengthy biographies of 
Mendelssohn is that written by Sir George Grove and in- 
cluded in Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 'Tho 
Grove dictionary appeared at a time when the Mendelssohn 
furore still existed in England, and possibly for this r 
son the compiler took particular pains to have the Men- 
delssohn life very exhaustive. The Mendelssohn Family, by 
Sebastian Hensel, is a most excellent detailed account of 
the accomplishments of many of Mendelssohn’s relatives. 
Good short biographies are those by Vernon Blackburn and 
by W. S. Rockstro (a pupil of Mendelssohn). Mendelssohn’s 
personal letters to members of his family and friends are 
also published in an excellent English translation. 


A MENDELSSOHN PROGRAM. 


GRADE 
1. Piano Dunt, Midsummer Night’s Dream........ 4 
(Arr. by Sidney Smith), 
2. Vocaut Souo, O For the Wings of a Dove..... se aoe Oe 
3. Prano Soro, Kinderstiicke, Opus 72 No. 2...... 3 
4, VI0LIN- SOLO, Spring Song... 0. ee = ieee ere 4 
(Arr. by W. F. Sudds). 
5. Quartet, Farewell to the Forest... Jon. eee 4 
6. P1ano SoLo, Rondo Cappriccioso, Opus 14....... 8 
7. Viotin Soro, Andante from Concerto in E Minor 7 
8. Piano Souo, Selections from Songs Without 
Words, 
9. VocaL Durts, O Wert Thou in the Cauld, Cauld 
BUASt eye ose 0 sone eee 
I Would That My Love......... 4 
10. Prano Duet, March from Athelie........ 'y Satie 5 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 
1. Tell something of the condition of the Jews in 
Europe prior to the birth of Mendelssohn. 
2. Give some facts regarding Mendelssohn’s interesting 
ancestry. 
3. When and where was Mendelssohn born? 
4. Who were Mendelssohn’s teachers? 
5. What was the great masterpiece which Mendelssohn 
wrote at the age of seventeen? 
6. Why is Mendelssohn given the credit of reviving the 
interst in Bach? 
7. Tell something of Mendelssohn’s visits to England. 
8. What great institution did Mendelssohn found in 
London? 
9. Give a short account of Mendelssohn’s compositions. 
10. When and where did Mendelssohn die? 


MOSES MENDELSSOHN, THE EMINENT JEWISH PHILOSOPHER, 
GRANDFATHER OF THE COMPOSER. 


PT MM IVFALINVANQUNQUQLADMUGAAIONUOREORCQUOLOPOGOVOLODDAGIARREONGAUNERUNLACOQOQOQBUCEDDUEOOOVOUUOREGQRURREONGQEAOAUUGFOUUQQENQDAUVOQURUUHUOOREQUONOROOOORANREQNUCQNEQROGOLLOQOOVAOOOQQQODLIQO(SEOUIGUOOOTVOLIDEURODOEREOHHAGD AD HOVHEARAF@U OOS 


SAMA I 


I 


Meyerbeer’s Period 


“A Jew banker to whom it occurred to com- 
pose operas,” that was the ammunition which 
Richard Wagner (exasperated at the time by 
his own failure to arouse great interest), used 
to down the applause which his friend Meyer- s 
beer was receiving. We have already noted in the 
Mendelssohn biography in this series how severe 
were the strictures placed upon all Jews in the day 
of Mendelssohn’s illustrious grandfather. Meyerbeer 
fortunately was born at a little later date, although 
he came into the world eighteen years before Felix 
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. However greatly we may re- 
spect the genius of Wagner no one can fail to deplore 
that unfortunate weakness which led him to return the 
kindness of Meyerbeer by an attack that was unfair, 
unjust and uncalled for. There is so much that can 
be said in favor of Meyerbeer in his defense that Wag- 
ner’s stand has a splenetic complexion. In the first 
place, despite the fact that Meyerbeer had very wealthy 
parents he lived for the better part of his life almost 
wholly without ostentation, insisting upon supporting 
himself from the profits from his own compositions. 
Again, Meyerbeer was in many ways very modest about 
his works, continually rewriting and rearranging them 
with a view to improving them—a singular contrast 
to the highly gifted but bombastic personality of Wag- 
ner. However inferior his talent may have been to 
that of Wagner—however mild may have been his 
resistance to the banal dictates of fashion, Meyerbeer 
had traits of character which commend him to us in 
so many ways that even in this day of his partial 
eclipse we find much to admire. 

Unlike Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer remained a Jew in 
fact to the end. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery 
in Berlin, and all his life was duly proud of his race. 
At the same time he was very liberal in his views 
and when a student with Carl Maria von Weber under 
the tumid Abbé Vogler, Meyerbeer played regularly 
for the Mass. 

The period from 1791 to 1864 was one of the most 
significant in history. Dominated as it was by the 
great social overturning in France from the reign of 
terror to the new empire, the growth of a great re- 
public in the new world, and the amazing advance in 
‘scientific knowledge, it was to be expected that great 
and decisive changes should come into musical life. 
Schumann, Wagner, Chopin represent this revolutionary 
era in a remarkable manner. Meyerbeer, although he 
strove to feel the pulse of the times, was more suc- 
cessful in catering to the popular appetites. In Italy 
he was an Italian, in France he was French, yet he 
could hardly be called a Teuton in anything he did. 
Von Weber prayed that Meyerbeer might leave 
something that would be wholly Teutonic in its char- 
acter but nothing from the pen of Meyerbeer can be 
compared with Weber’s Der Freischiitz in its Germanic 
flavor. 
~ Meyerbeer’s Italian operas were successfy] despite 
the Kitchen Epigram of Rossini, who declared 
“Meyerbeer likes sauer krout better than he does mac- 
-aroni.” Meyerbeer, however, wrote much more suc- 
cessfully for the spectacular needs of the French stage 
than in any other form. He has had many detractors 
‘who have fastened upon some one of his shortcom- 
ings at the same time closing their eyes to his really 
notable achievements. Serious critics find much to 
‘praise in Meyerbeer’s orchestral treatment. Even as 
severe a judge as Ebenezer Prout. praises Meyerbeer’s 
“splendid use of the orchestra.” : 


Meyerbeer’s Childhood and Youth 


Meyerbeer’s father, Herz Beer, was one of the most 
prosperous bankers of Berlin and his wife (Amilie 
Wulf) was distinguished for her brilliant intellect and 
unusual culture. Small wonder then that of their 
three sons, Wilhelm became noted as an astronomer, 
Michael as a poet and Jacob Liebmann as one of the 
most famous composers for the stage. A relative 
named Meyer insisted that his name be prefixed to 


“eg 
er 


cS S 


Ss 
v 


ETE ccc 
Giacomo Meyerbeer AW mya 


“Tf I should stop work I should rob myself of 
my greatest enjoyment.” 


that of Beer and a rich legacy insured the change. 
Accordingly the family name became Meyerbeer. Later 
Jacob Liebmann Beer not only adopted the new form 
but Italianized his first name so that the famous com- 
poser is now known as Giacomo Meyerbeer. Meyer- 
beer was born at Berlin, September 5, 1791. Early 
aptitude for music induced his parent to place him 
under the instruction of Franz Serapa Lauska, a pupil 
of Clementi. Later Clementi himself heard the boy 
play and offered to give him lessons. His talent was 
so great that all who heard him felt that he would be- 
come one of the greatest of all piano virtuosi. He 
was able to play the Mozart D minor concert in public 
when he was only seven years. Indeed Moscheles, who 
was only three years younger than Meyerbeer and was 
therefore a contemporary, went so far as to say that 
if Meyerbeer had chosen to follow the career of the 
virtuoso pianist he would have had few equals. But 
from early childhood Meyerbeer aspired to be a com- 
poser. Accordingly Zelter (later the teacher of Men- 
delssohn) and Bernhard Anselm Weber were selected 
as the boy’s instructors in harmony, theory, counter- 
point and composition. Weber had been a pupil of 
George Joseph Vogler, known as Abbé Vogler (German, 
Abt Vogler), and when the young Meyerbeer became 
sufficiently advanced Weber passed him on to the 
singular figure about whom so much has been written. 


Meyerbeer and Vogler 

Abbé Vogler (born at Wiirzburg, 1749) was dubbed 
a charlatan by Mozart. He had a distaste for any- 
thing savoring of slow, laborious study and when he 
came to teach himself he boasted that he could pro- 
duce composers far quicker by his methods than by 
any other. His pupils were obliged to do an enormous 
amount of work but at best the quality of the work 
was not so carefully considered as the quantity. Thus, 
Meyerbeer, always a very hard worker, was not led 
to regard his tasks as profoundly as he might have 
done had he studied under a more painstaking and 
thorough master. Vogler was proud of the fact that 
he had been ordained a priest at Rome (1773). He 
was indeed a devoted Catholic and had been made 
Apostolic Protonotary and Chamberlain to the Pope. 
At Darmstadt the corpulent little priest had many 
loyal pupils of whom Weber, Ganzbacher and Meyer- 
beer were the most celebrated. Records of the ma- 
terials he used do not seem to point to any lack of 


39 


i 


UN 


. 


Ke 


YaNTUATEROVEDORDEDOTOORDNVOTEaduatiNe 


Se 
Rs ——— y KF 


thoroughness. The pupils were expected to ana- 
lyze a masterpiece of some famous composer 
every day, likewise to compose a fugue or a 
cantata daily. Meyerbeer at any rate was a most 
industrious student, often remaining in his room 
y for days while engaged in completing some work 
in which he was interested. 


First Notable Works 


Meyerbeer was little over the twenties when he com- 
menced to produce works that called for more than 
passing attention. Among these was an oratorio God 
and Nature, a four part setting of Klopstock’s Sacred 
Songs, and a Biblical opera, Jephtha’s Vow. The last 
named was produced in Munich in 1813 but was dubbed 
dry and academic. Another opera, Alimelek, or the two 
Caliphs, produced in Stuttgart in the same year fared 
better. 

Next we find Meyerbeer in Vienna where he decided 
to become a virtuoso pianist. Fate took him on the 
night of his arrival to a concert given by Hummel. 
Meyerbeer was so much impressed by Hummel’s finished 
work that he decided to spend many months in im- 
proving his own technic. In the meantime his opera, 
The Two Caliphs was given in Vienna and proved a 
failure. At the insistence of Salieri he went to Italy 
to acquire further experience. There he heard Ros- 
sini’s Tancredi and was so affected by it that he re- 
solved to attempt similar works himself. 


Meyerbeer in Italy 

Meyerbeer found Italy most congenial and the people 
divided their affection for Rossini with the new com- 
poser. The result was several operas in the Italian 
style none of which is generally identified with the 
work of the later Meyerbeer by which he is most 
widely known. Among the Italian operas were Romilda 
e Constanza (Padua, 1818), Semiramide riconosciuta 
(Turin, 1819), Eduardo e Cristina and Emma di Res- 
burgo (Venice, 1820), Margherita d’ Anjou (Milan, 
1820), L’Esule di Granata (1822). 

Meyerbeer, however, tired of life in Italy and longed 
for a more strenuous existence. The production of 
his opera Das Brandenburger Thor in Berlin (1823) 
led his German critics and friends (among them von 
Weber) to note that he was gradually pandering more 
and more to popular applause. Meyerbeer was wise 
and resolved to reform his work. While in Germany 
he wrote Crociato, which was produced in Venice in 
1824 with huge success. The opera became a popular 
favorite at the time and when it was given in Paris 
Meyerbeer attended the first performance (1826). 
Crociato served to reveal larger possibilities to Meyer- 
ber and from 1824 to 1831 he produced no work of 
note but spent a great deal of time in reflection—re- 
making himself as it were. Paris was again the great 
European art’ centre and Meyerbeer made it his home. 
There he made the friendship of Scribe, the noted 
dramatic writer and librettist, who did much to assist 
him in the production of the works by which Meyer- 
beer is best known. Indeed Meyerbeer with his 
chameleon-like nature and talents soon became a Pa- 
risian of the Parisians, as he had previously been 
Italianized. 


The Influence of Italy on Meyerbeer 

The extraordinary effect of his visit to Italy remained 
a life-long influence upon Meyerbeer. Forty years 
afterwards he wrote to a friend in explanation of his 
earlier Italian operas: 

“All Italy was then revelling in a sweet delirium of 
rapture. It seemed as if the whole nation had at last 
found its Lost Paradise, and nothing further was 
needed for its happiness than Rossini’s music. I was 
involuntarily drawn into the delicious maze of tones 
and bewitched in a magic garden from which I could 
not and would not escape. All my feelings became 
Italian; all my thoughts became Italian. After I had 
lived a year there it seemed to me that I was an Italian 
born. I was completely acclimated to the splendid glory 


oY nature, art, and the 
gay congenial life, and 
could ‘therefore enter 
into the thoughts, feel- 
ings and sensibilities of 
‘the Italians. Of course 
such a complete return- 
ing of my spiritual life 
‘had an immediate effect 
upon’ my ‘composition. 

I was-loath to imitate 

Rossini, and write in 

the Italian style, but 

I had to compose as I 

did because my inmost 

being compelled me to 

Lies 

The poet Heine, in 
commenting upon the 
extraordinary hold which a Latin environment had 
upon the Teutonic Meyerbeer, said: 

“Such intoxication of the senses as he experienced 
in Italy could not long satisfy a German nature. <A 
certain yearning for the earnestness of his fatherland 
awoke in him. While he found his ease amid the Italian 
myrtles, the mysterious murmur of the German oaks 
recurred to him. While southern zephyrs caressed him, 
he thought of the sombre chorals of the north wind.” 

Weber, with whom Meyerbeer passed many pleasant 
days as a student under Abt Vogler, was much dis- 
tressed at Meyerbeer’s Italian obsession. “It makes 
my heart bleed,” he wrote, “to see a German composer 
of creative power stoop to become a mere imitator in 
order to curry favor with the crowd.” And again, in 
his public critique on Emma di Resburgo in 1820, Weber 
wrote: “I believe the composer has deliberately chosen 
to make a descent in order to show that he can rule and 
reign as lord and master over all forms.” Weber ex- 
pressed a wish that Meyerbeer would return to Ger- 
many, and to the circle of German composers, but that 
was not to be for many years. During his long resi- 
dence in Paris, Meyerbeer formed cordial relations 
with Cherubini, Boieldieu, Auber, Habeneck, Halévy 
and Adam. He was also on the best’ of terms with his 
rival, Rossini, though the latter viewed the Teutonic 
element in him with something of the disfavor with 
which Weber viewed the Latin. “Meyerbeer and I can 
never agree,’ observed Rossini. ‘“Meyerbeer likes 
sauerkrout better than he does macaroni.” 


MEYERBEER AT THE AGE OF 30, 


Meyerbeer and Scribe 


Augustine Eugéne Scribe was born in Paris in the same 
year of Meyerbeer’s birth (1791). Finding law distasteful, 
he decided to become a dramatist. His methods were 
arbitrary and conventional, but he had a certain genius 
which made his plays impressive and successful. The 
technic of his dramatic machinery was usually too obvious 
to please the taste of genuinely artistic pcople. Among 
his most successful plays were Le Mariaye De Raison and 
Adrienne Lecouvreur. It is as a librettist, however, that 
he is destined to go down to fame, as the music Which 
accompanied some of his librettos apparently has sufficient 
vitality to insure longevity. Among the well-known libret- 
tos by Scribe are La Dame Blanche (Boieldieu), Fra Diavolo 
(Auber), La Juive (Halevy), Les Diamants de la Couronne 
(Auber), Vépres Siciliennes (Verdi) and the famous Meyer- 
beer operas Les Huguenots, Robert le Diable, Le Proplete, 
L’Etoile du Nord, and LAfr icaine. Meyerbeer and Scribe 
worked earnestly together and took their work very seri- 
ously. Meyerbeer was continually insisting upon changes 
in the librettos and this often resulted in long delays. 


Parisian Successes 


If Italy had received Meyerbeer with favor France 
gave him even a warmer welcome. When Robert le 
Diable was produced in Paris in 1831 it was_so bril- 
liant, so scintillating, so full of the spice demanded 
by the public and so striking when compared with the 
music of the time that its success was enormous. Its 
fame spread to all the operatic centres and for some 
considerable time it was the foremost operatic work 
of the period. Yet, Meyerbeer realized that he had 
still greater powers and wrote Les Huguenots. So 
careful and painstaking was he with the work that 
it was not done upon contract time and forfeited 30,- 
000 francs thereby. When Les. Huguenots was pro~ 
duced its plot was less fantastic than that of Robert 
le Diable and the music less superficial. Consequently 
the public failed to realize at first that it was a much 
more important work. Nevertheless the work was 
sufficiently spectacular to command public success. Le 
Prophete produced in 1849 compared favorably with 
Les Huguenots but did not extend its composer’s repu- 
tation, although the work represents Meyerbeer, at his 
very best—a Meyerbeer of serious intent. 


Meyerbeer and Jenny Lind 
Meyerbeer’s fame in Paris had now extended to 
Berlin and it is. not surprising to find him appointed 
as the Generalmusik director in 1842, by King Frederick 


William IV, in which position Meyerbeer succeeded 
the erratic Spontini. There at the Grande Opera 
Meyerbeer produced a new opera Ein Feldlager in 
Schlesien (1844). Shortly thereafter the leading role 
was taken by Jenny Lind then new to the musical 
world of Berlin and this is said to have accounted for 
the somewhat surprising success of the opera at that 
time. Meyerbeer utilized part of the music in re- 
writing his L’Etoile du Nord. Meyerbeer was im- 
mensely impressed by the talent and voice of Jenny 
Lind and before her first appearance in his opera is 
said to have rehearsed her no less than one hundred 
times to insure good results. 


Meyerbeer and Wagner 

As already noted Wagner's attitude toward Meyer- 
beer was not altogether creditable. In 1839 Wagner 
took four weeks to ingratiate himself with Meyerbeer 
at Boulogne. Meyerbeer then gave the younger com- 
poser letters of introduction to the directors of the 
Opera and the Théatre de la Renaissance and to the 
music publisher, Schlesinger. It will be remembered 
that it was this same Schlesinger who provided Wag- 
ner with the hack work that kept him alive. Wagner 
was the handy man for the music publishing establish- 
ment and thought little of making arrangements for 
cornet. Meyerbeer, prosperous and famous, found 
Wagner in Paris penniless and unknown. He again 
brought him to the attention of the Director of the 
Opera. Through this introduction the opera directors 
accepted the libretto of The Flying Dutchman with the 
understanding that another composer was to be selected 
to write suitable music. Wagner was paid $100 for 
his work. Later when Meyerbeer with La Prophcte 
and Wagner with Lohengrin were rivals for popular 
favor in Paris, Wagner attributed the attacks made 
upon his works to Meyerbeet’s literary and journalistic 
friends. Naturally he claimed that Meyerbeer was re- 
sponsible. However, he went out of his way to state 
that he had nothing against Meyerbeer the man, but 
with Mendelssohn, Schumann and others had little re- 
gard for Meyerbeer the musician. Indeed many of 
Meyerbeer’s contemporaries did not hesitate to at- 
tribute the success of his operas to clever exploitation 
of Meyerbeer’s friends on the press. When Wagner 
wrote his notorious article The Jew in Music (Das 
Judenthum in Musik) for the Neue Zeitschrift fiir 
Musik, he attacked Meyerbeer among the others. 


Meyerbeer’s Great Popularity 


Meyerbeer unquestionably succeeded in winning wide 
popular favor. Louis Philippe made him a member of 
the Legion of Honor, and he was elected a member 
of the Institute of France. The King of Prussia, the 
Royal Academy of London, the King of the Nether- 
lands and even Dom Pedro of Brazil all conferred 
high honors upon him. Robert le Diable was one of 
the most successful operas ever written when consid- 
ered from the box-office standpoint. It brought in 
over four million francs. But, Meyerbeer was already 
a rich man and did not need this money. He lived 
very modestly indeed and gave much to musicians in 
distress. Upon one occasion he raised a sum of six- 
teen thousand dollars for the widow of Lortzing. 


Meyerbeer’s Last Days 


In 1854 Meyerbeer presented the rewritten Ein 
Feldlager in Schlesien at the Opera Comique in Paris. 
This was followed by Le Pardon de Ploermel (other- 
wise known as Dinorah). In addition to his operatic 
works he also wrote cantatas, festival marches and 
dramatic music for his brother Michael’s poem 
Struensee. His last work was L’Africaine, which, 
however, he never lived to see. L’Africaine was pro- 
duced one year after the death of Meyerbeer and 
regarded by many as his foremost work. It is ex- 
ceptionally melodious and shows less of the bowing to 
convention which marred some of his previous efforts. 
However, like most of Meyerbeer’s productions, there 
is still that remarkable unevenness. Exceptionally 
beautiful passages—moments of real inspiration are 
followed by measures that are hopelessly trivial and 
conventional. 

Meyerbeer died at Paris May 2, 1864. He had 
many fond friends and admirers. Rossini is said to 
have fainted when he heard of his death. His funeral 
was one of great pomp and circumstance. Great 
throngs of admirers and “endless” carriages led by the 
king’s own coach, drawn by four horses, added to the 
importance of the event. 


Meyerbeer as Conductor 


Meyerbeer was one of the few contemporary musi- 
cians who had the foresight to recognize in Berlioz a 


40 


9 


man of genius. Berlioz on the other hand was watt 
in his praise of Meyerbeer. Nor is this to be regardec 
as the result of mere gratitude, for the two musician: 
had not a little in common, in their mutual appreciatior 
of the growing resources of the orchestra. Meyerbee 
has been criticized for his occasionally vapid melodies 
and weakness of structure. A similar charge mighj 
well be brought against Berlioz, but it must be oe 
to both of them that they exerted a lasting influence 
as orchestral colorists. | 

Berlioz visited Berlin at the time Meyerbeer was 
Director of the opera, and the following letter to 
Habeneck in Paris will show that he was no less im- 
pressed with Meyerbeer’s powers as a practical mu- 
sician than as a composer: 

“The grand orchestra with its twenty-eight violidl 
and its doubled wind instruments, the great chorus with 
its hundred and twenty voices were present, and Meyer- 
beer ruled at the conductor’s desk. I had a lively de- 
sire to see him conduct, especially one of his own works. 
He performs this task as if he had been at it fo! 
twenty years; the orchestra is in his hands; he does 
with it whatever he wishes. As for the tempt he takes 
in the Huguenots, they are the same as your own, with 
the exception of the entry of the monks in the fourth 
act, and the march which closes the third; these are a 
little slower. This makes the former number seem a 
little cold to me; I should have preferred a little less 
breadth, while I found it wholly to the advantage of 
the latter, played upon the stage by the military band; 
it gains by it in every respect. 

“T cannot analyze scene by scene the playing of the 
orchestra in Meyerbeer’s masterpiece; I will only say 
that it struck me as magnificently fine from beginning 
to end, perfectly shaded, incomparably precise and 
clear, even in the most intricate passages.’ 


4 


A Meyerbeer Program 


While by no means impossible to arrange, a Meyerbea 
program would be very difficult to provide owing to the fact 
that every one would have a different preference in the 
matter. ‘Therefore it is better for the one preparing sucht 
a program to secure piano arrangements of the Meyerbeer 
operas (Le Prophete, Les Huguenots, L’Africaine and 
Dinorah), and make a program according to individual 
taste. Most of the big vocal numbers from the operas are 
procurable separately. While this does not lead to a 
recital program of great musical interest owing to the 
lack of variety that operatic arrangements present, it 
nevertheless is interesting from the popular and musical 
historical standpoint. There are, of course, numerous old 
paraphrases of the Meyerbeer operas such as Africaine, 
by Jaell; Raff’s arrangement of the Berceuse of Selica from 
LA fricaine ; the L’Africaine Fantaisie de Concert by Franz 
Bendel; the Jaell arrangement of the Obre légére from 
Dinorah (Grade 6). An arrangement of the same composi- 
tion by Voss is in Grade 4 and is popular. Richard Hoff- 
man wrote a Caprice de Concert upon Dinorah which was 
once very popular, Liszt’s Illustration du Prophete had its 
vogue but is rarely heard now. ‘This work is in three sec- 
tions. No. 1 contains the famous Coronation March. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 
State some facts regarding Meyerbeer’s character. 
Where was Meyerbeer born? When? 
Who were Meyerbeer’s teachers? 
Tell something of Abbe Vogler. 


Why was it Meyerbeer gave up his ambition to be- 
come a pianist? 


6. How did Meyerbeer’s residence in Italy affect his. 
work? 

7. What did Weber think of Meyerbeer? 

8. Name three great operatic successes of Meyerbeer 
in Paris. 

9. Tell something of the 
Richard Wagner. 

10. When and where did Meyerbeer die? 


or 


relations of Meyerbeer and 


MEYERBEER TRAVEL PIANO, USED BY HIM FOR PRACTICE 
PURPOSES WHILE ON TOUR. © 


We 


TTT =f 


MOZART’S PERIOD. 


Or all the famed rulers of Austria, none 
stands out more prominently than Maria Theresa. 
Despite wars fought at a fabulous cost of blood 
and gold, that remarkable woman was enabled 
to develop education, arts, sciences, commerce 
and trade in a manner which made her one of the 
idols of Europe. She was wholly in spirit with the 
times, and it is not astonishing that those who were 
working for high musical ideals found much encour- 
agement during the reign of Austria’s great queen. 
Mozart, unfortunately, benefited little from govern- 
mental assistance coming directly from the crown, but 
he was blessed in coming to the world in a country 
and at a time when musical interest was being mani- 
fested in an extraordinary manner. 


MOZART’S ANCESTORS. 


John George Leopold Mozart the father of Wolfgang 
Amadeus Mozart, was descended from a family of book 


binders, masons, builders and artisans in other branches 
of work. Although originally intended for the law, he 


became a musician. It was while he was studying juris- 
prudence at the house of the Prince Bishop of Salzburg 
that he became one of the musicians of the chapel. While 
in this position he married the daughter of a _ hospital 
attendant, one Anna Maria Pertlin (or Bertl). This de- 
voted couple became the parents of seven children, two of 
whom lived to become among the most notable figures in 
musical history. Leopold Mozart was an able musician, 
violinist and composer who, had it not been for his talented 
ehildren, would have been a simple, devout pious burgher 
wanting little more than his slender fees as a local music 
teacher could bring him, His best known work was his 
Violin Method. 4 


MOZART’S BIRTH. 


- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (christened Joannes 
Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) was 
born at Salzburg on the 27th of January, 1756. At the 
age of three he found his way to the piano keyboard, 
not to manufacture discords, but to discover a world 
of delight in making chords. His father saw that the 
child’ had a phenomenal gift. Consequently he took 
it upon himself to direct the youngster’s explorations 
at the keyboard. At the age of five he actually com- 
posed a set of minuets, although his father acted as 
his amanuensis. All his boyhood games, his every 
movement in play were accompanied by music of his 
own devising to suit the occasion. He could not toler- 
ate the tones of a trumpet, and upon one occasion 
fainted when his father, in endeavoring to overcome 
what he thought a childish prejudice, blew a blast in 
the same room with the child. It is hard to believe 
that when the little fellow had had no instruction 
whatever in violin playing he insisted in taking part 
in the performance of a trio performed in his home 
and amazed all by playing the notes in perfect intona- 
tion. One very helpful circumstance in the childhood 
of Mozart was the association with his talented sister, 
Maria Anna (born July 30th, 1751). Indeed, it was 
said that the talent of the sister affected the entire 
career of Mozart in a very exceptional manner. 


n 


TWO JUVENILE VIRTUOSOS. 


* When Mozart was six years of age his father determined 
to make tours with the little composer and his gifted sister, 
From ‘1762. to 1765 Leopold and his wonder children wan- 
dered over much of musical Europe arousing sensational in- 
terest wherever he exhibited them. Much as the elder 
+ Mozart has been criticized for this course it is fair to note 
that the youthful Mozart produced in these years an alto- 
gether incomprehensible number of astonishing works. 
Indeed, millions of children of the past and present sur- 
' rounded by every safeguard of the home and school bear 
no comparison to the progress made by Mozart under what 
most parents and educators would declare “impossible” con- 
ditions. 

The first trip was to Vienna, via Munich and Linz. Can 
We frame in words this delightfully picturesque scene. 
Mozart and his wife, ‘‘the handsomest couple in all Salz- 
burg,” with their two beautiful children making prepara- 
tions for-the journey that was to lead to immortal fame; 
the -quaint'old ‘diligence, starting out under the shadow of 
the glorious Alps looking down on beautiful Salzburg, the 
romantic Danube; the tottering castles; and then Vienna 


I acknowledge 
His omnipotence. I fear His wrath. But I also ac- 
knowledge His love, His pity and His mercy towards 
His creatures. Whatsoever is according to His will 
is also according to mine; therefore I cannot fail to be 
happy and contented.” 


“T have God always before my eyes. 


the city of Haydn, At Vienna the emperor made the little 
fellow play on a keyboard concealed by a cloth cover, a 
stupid trick quite worthy of an idle monarch, Unaffected 
child, that he was, he threw his arms about the neck of 
the great Maria Theresa and kissed her many times. The 
emperor was delighted and called the boy his ‘‘little 
magician” (‘‘kleiner Hexenmeister’). In Vienna, Wolfgang 
contracted scarlet fever and his progress was greatly 
delayed. 


MOZART AT PARIS. 


The next trip took place in the following year when 
they reached Paris via Munich, Augsburg, Schwetzin- 
gen, Mayence, Frankfort, Coblenz, Aix-la-Chapelle and 
Brussels. The trip, now accomplished in a day, took 
five months, occasional concerts being given on the 
way. At the brilliant court of Versailles, then at the 
height of a long series of gorgeous functions, the 
Mozarts were féted in a most unusual manner. After 
a stay of five months the children were taken to Lon- 
don, where the “prodigies of nature,” as the father 
exploited them, made a furore. While in London the 
father was taken sick, and being unable to practice, 
the nine-year-old boy set out to write his first sym- 
phony. Later the children gave a most successful con- 
cert in London, at which Mozart and his sister played 
a four-handed piece upon the harpsichord, then a newly 
invented instrument. Thereafter the father gave pri- 
vate exhibitions of the children charging two shillings 
and sixpence for an opportunity to examine them and 
test their musical prowess. This plan proved a losing 
venture, and in 1765 they started for the court of 
Holland. 


THE JOURNEY HOME. 


At the Hague the Prince of Orange welcomed the 
children, who by this time were tired, wornout little 
musical freaks. Naturally they fell prey to illnesses 
which might have cost the world two very unusual 
musicians. After protracted sicknesses they were 
again brought before the public in Holland, and later 
in Paris, as well as parts of Switzerland. Finally, in 
1866, they arrived home after an absence of some three 


years. 
41 


TTT 


od 


Ls 


IN VIENNA. 


In 1868 they returned to Vienna, where the boy 
was commissioned to compose an opera. The cus- 
tomary intrigue surrounding the production of such 
works compelled him to abandon the performance of 
this work (La finta Semplice). He did, however, 
produce his operetta Bastien und Bastienne before 
a few friends. A Mass, a Trumpet Concerto, and an 
Offertorium were, however, given very successfully 
in public at a performance attended by the court and 
the Emperor in person. 

Returning to Vienna Mozart found to his delight that the 
sceptical Archbishop had been convinced of his ability and 
had arranged for a performance of his rejected opera as 
well as doing the composer the great honor of appointing 
him Concertmeister to the Archbishop without salary. It 
should be noted that the Archbishops of the period in 
Austria and in some parts of Germany had temporal power 
as governors as well as their ecclesiastical power. The posi- 
tion of Archbishop was one of august importance, and 
Mozart’s appointment was not to be sneezed at, 


At Salzburg the doubting Archbishop did his best to 
prove that “a prophet is not without honor, save in 
his own country.” He mistrusted Mozart’s genius and 
in order to test it had him write a cantata under strict- 
est scrutiny of trained musicians. In 1867 the father 
took his children to Vienna to be featured in the fes- 
tivities attending a court wedding. There they both 
contracted the smallpox, and Wolfgang was blind for 
some nine days as a result of this ill-fated expedition. 


THE ITALIAN JOURNEY. 


In 1869 Mozart and his father set out for Italy. 
Most of the principal northern Italian cities were 
visited, and to put it in the words of the father his 
success may be stated “the same here as everywhere.” 
The whole trip was a march of triumph for Mozart. 
At all points he met incredulous musicians who in- 
sisted upon testing him as to the genuineness of his 
genius. All question was ended when the remarkable 
boy wrote down from memory the entire Miserere of 
Allegri after one hearing. 


THE FAMOUS INCIDENT OF THE ALLEGRI 
MISERERE. 


The Miserere of Allegri is a musical setting of part 
of the service known as Tenebre, sung at St. Peter’s, 
Rome, only on three days of the year (Wednesday, 
Thursday and Friday of Holy Week). The office is 
one of the most impressive in the service of the 
church. Late in the afternoon six great candles are 
lighted on the high altar and fifteen others flame from 
a triangular candlestick placed in front of the altar. 
As the ceremonial proceeds the candles are extin- 
guished one by one at the end of different parts of the 
service. Finally the one remaining lighted candle is 
taken from the top of the candlestick and carried be- 
hind the altar so that its light is hidden, although it 
illuminates the figure of the Pope clad in scarlet 
raiment as he kneels at his Genuflexorium at the high 
altar. In the darkness of the chapel a single soprano 
voice is heard singing “Christus jactus est pro nobis 
obediens usque ad mortem.’ As the tones of this soli- 
tary singer die away a solemn silence ensues, during 
which the Paternoster is said in secret. Then follows 
the sombre music of the Miserere mei Deus. It is im- 
possible to describe the effect this imposing ritualistic 
service invariably has upon all hearers. Naturally the 
setting of Allegri became one of the most famous of 
all compositions, particularly since it was believed that 
up to the year 1770 only three authorized versions of 
the Miserere had ever been made. When Mozart re- 
produced the work from memory after one hearing, so 
that the leading soprano of the Pope’s choir declared 
it to be perfect, the news of this feat spread all over 
Europe. 

DISTINCTIONS IN ITALY. 

The days of the Mozarts in Italy must have been very 
happy indeed. In Naples the superstitious people could not 
believe that be gained his power through natural means 
and insisted that he put aside a ring he wore upon his 


finger. This he did and much to their amazement played 
equally well. The Pope bestowed the order of the “Golden 


Spur’ upon the boy and for 
a time be signed all his com- 
positions Signor Cavaliere 
Amadeo. In Bologno the 
Academia Filtharmonica ad- 
mitted him to the rank of 
“compositore’’.after a severe 
examination. Italy had great 
charm for this fifteen year 
old boy and although he re- 
turned to his home on short 
trips he seemed to prefer to 
spend his days with the 
warm-hearted, genial] tem- 
peramental people of the 
sunny south, 


NOTABLE EARLY WORKS. 


Mozart was so continu- 
ally busy during the ensu- 
ing years that a lengthy 
volume would be required 
to catalog his activities. He 
had already at the age of 
fifteen an enormous number of unusual works to his 
credit. At twenty-one he ranked with the greatest 
masters then living as a composer and as a performer. 
His father had seen to it that he had a measure of 
the best obtainable educational advantages of the Salz- 
burg of his day, which together with travel, associa- 
tion with notable people, and a gift for languages made 
him a man of more than usual culture and breadth of 
view. This led him to realize more and more that the 
narrow channel of thought which marked the little 
Austrian village was intolerable to him and he accord- 
ingly set out again in 1777 to seek new fortunes. This 
time his mother accompanied him. Little success at- 
tended the expedition until Manheim was reached. 
There the opportunities for intellectual and musical 
growth impressed Mozart, and he remained in the city 
for some time. There also he fell in love with Aloysia, 
daughter of the prompter and copyist of the Court 
Theatre, Fridolin von Weber (uncle of Carl Maria 
von Weber). 


MOZART’S 


WIFE, 


A FAMOUS ROMANCE. 


beautiful, cultured, amiable and a charming 
singer, was at the beginning of her operatic career. The 
best biographical dictionaries declare that she was 
twenty-eight, although Mozart in a letter refers to his 
beloved as a girl of fifteen, This discrepancy is hard to 
explain, for while it is possible to understand how the im- 
petuous young composer might readily fall headlong in love 
with a sweetheart some six years older than himself it is 
difficult to believe that he would be deceived into thinking 
she was some thirteen years younger than she really was. 
Mozart endeavored to secure an engagement for Aloysia at 
an Italian opera house and planned to write an opera for 
her, His father, however, pointed out to him that “a 
hasty marriage will bring poverty to your door’ and Mo- 
zart after great mental stress left his Aloysia, only to find 
that she was quite content to have their romance dwindle 
into a prosaic friendship. 

In 1778 Mozart and his mother left for Paris. The trip 
was ill-fated for Mozart failed in winning the public admira- 
tion he had hoped for. Worse than this, his mother took 
ill and died in his arms only a few months after their 
arrival in the French capital. Mozart was in despair and 
returned to Salzburg shortly thereafter, stopping on the 
way at Nancy, Strasburg, Mannheim, In Salzburg he be- 
came Concert-meister and organist to the Court, the arch- 
bishop having consented to let him return to his favor. 


Aloysia Weber, 


MOZART’S MARRIAGE. 


We next find Mozart in Munich making preparation for 
the first performance of his opera Idomeneo, Re di Creta. 
The composer, to his surprise, received a summons from the 
Archbishop of Vienna whither he went in March, 1781. The 
Archbishop insisted upon Mozart holding the position of a 
servant in his household. The great master even ate at the 
servants’ table. However, it is often falsely assumed that 
this represented the general status of musicians of the time. 
Mozart was treated very differently in other aristocratic 
circles. It was hard for Mozart to forbear under the 
epithets of ‘‘Gassenbube” (Gutter snipe) frequently hurled 
at him in the Archbishop’s house. 

In Vienna Mozart lived part of the time with the Weber 


family. Aloysia had in thé meantime married an actor 
nimed Lange. Her younger sister, Constanze, immediately 
became the object of Mozart's affections and they were mar- 
ried August 4, 1782. This union was ideal, in the sense 


that the couple 
was utterly 


were devoted to each other, but the marriage 
disastrous from a practical standpoint. Both 
Mozart and his wife were as improvident as could be imag- 
ined. Poverty waited upon opulence, and as a consequence 
they were constantly in miserable circumstances. Neverthe- 
less, his tenderness.and consideration for his wife was always 
beautiful to note. Contrary to popular opinion, Mozart was 
not dissolute. He was simply joy-loving and always saw to 
it that he had as good a time as his favorite pastimes of 
billiards, skittle and dancing would permit. 


MOZART’S PRIME. 


his twenty-fifth year Mozart com- 
recognition due to him as a serious 
composer. He could not stand the abuse he received in 
the house of the Archbishop of Vienna and _ resented it, 
whereupon he was promptly and literally kicked out by the 
high-steward Count Arco. <A meeting with Josef Haydn 
proved a momentous incident in his career since the two 
composers became inseparable friends. The production of 
the opera Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, 1782, also encouraged 
Mozart immensely. Mozart was very devout and constantly 
insisted upon writing music for the church, although this 
yielded him little profit. He was also a most enthusiastic 
mason and wrote effective music for the ritualistic work of 
the order, 


With the coming of 
menced to receive the 


AN OPERATIC SUCCESS. 


In 1776 Mozart wrote Le Nozze di Figaro to a lib- 
retto based upon Beaumarchais’s Marriage de Figaro, 
which had been arranged by Loren. 1. ionte (da 


Ponte later became the Professor of Italian at Colum- 
bia College, New York). It was given with such suc- 
cess that the Emperor was obliged to prohibit encores 
in order that the performances might get through in 
good season, 

A visit to Prague revealed to him that the Bohemian 
city was equally enthusiastic over his work. However, 
governmental appointments-at home failed to come and 
Mozart was obliged to work ahead on a very uncer- 
tain income, and at the same time witness musicians 
with scanty equipment secure lucrative posts. In de- 
spair he longed to go to England, hoping for a better 
financial position. He remained in Vienna, however, 
and soon undertook work upon his opera Don Gio- 
vanni with the librettist da Ponte. This famous opera 
was produced for the first time October 29th, 1787. 


THE MOZART FAMILY 
From a Contemporary Painting 


FINANCIAL STRUGGLES. 


Returning to Vienna Mozart expected that Gluck’s death 
would certainly make it easier for him to secure some sup- 
port from the government. This came in the form of the 
position of Kammer-compositor -with a salary of $400.00 
a year, which even in that day was ridiculously small. It 
is one of the most pitiful things in all musical history to 
review the prodigious output of this very gifted man at 
moments when he was oppressed by genuine poverty—sym- 
phonies, piano pieces, operas, songs, choral works kept on 
coming and coming while the smug world looked on and 
did nothing to aid him in his terrible struggle for existence. 

In 1789 he visited Berlin via Leipsic and Dresden in 
company with his pupil and patron Prince Lichnowsky. 
There King Frederick William II, who was a practical musi- 
cian, offered Mozart the post of Capellmeister at a salary 
of about $3000.00. The emotional and patriotic Mozart 
very stupidly refused this offer and replied, ‘‘How could I 
abandon my good Emperor?” the beneficent Emperor who 
was good enough to retain one of the greatest of masters 
at the magnificent salary of $400.00 a year. 


MOZART’S LAST DAYS. 


Mozart’s northern trip brought him distinction but 
little money. He offered his resignation upon his return 
to Vienna but to the Emperor’s “What, Mozart, are 
you going to leave me?” He replied, “Your Majesty, 
I throw myself on your kindness, I remain.” The 
emperor’s “generosity” is shown by the fact that he 
ordered another opera, Cosi fan Tutti, the production 
of which January 26, 1790, brought Mozart more fame 
than money. The first performance of The Magic 
Flute (September 30, 1791), was so coldly received 
that Mozart concluded that the work was destined for 
failure. 


THE SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE OF THE REQUIEM. 


In July of 1791 a stranger visited Mozart 
missioned him to write a requiem offering him fifty or a 
hundred ducats. Mozart bad foregone writing church music 
for some years and the task appealed to him. The myste- 
rious stranger appeard to Mozart again just as he was 
about to start upon a lengthy trip and begged him to 
finish the requiem. . The identity of this sombre figure in 
the last act of Mozart's life has never been made out. 
Toward the end of the year Mozart was. seized with spells 
of deepest depression. ‘The requiem took all his time and 
thought day and night. He even told his wife that he felt 
certain that he was writing his own requiem. She _ per- 
suaded him to attempt another work, fearing tbat it was 
the requiem that was depressing him. Promise of help 
came from some noblemen of Hungary, always generous 
to musicians. A coterie in Amsterdam agreed to publish 
his compositions, but this failed to encourage him. It was 
all too late. 42 


and com- 


THE END. 

Mozart was confined to his bed. He ordered the 
requiem brought to him again. It was late in the 
afternoon of the fifth of December, 1791, that he gath- 
ered together a few friends to help him try over parts 
of the work. Suddenly he burst into tears and scat- 
tered the manuscript on the floor. He realized that he 
would not live to finish the work. Too far gone to 
write, he tried to tell his friend Stissmayer how certain 
parts should be carried out. Falling into a gentle sleep 
his faithful friend saw that he was even then trying 
to follow the music in his dreams, mumbling the 
ghostly rumble of a drum. At midnight he sat erect 
and stared into the eternal distances. Then the great 
master fell softly to his pillow as his soul passed on. 

The next day the body of Mozart was removed to 
the St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where a “third-class” fun- 
eral was provided, not within the sacred precincts of 
the Cathedral, Mozart, who had done so much to en- 
rich the music of the church, was too poor for that. 
A few faithful friends surrounded the bier and fol- 
lowed it to the city gates when a frightful storm arose 
and a solitary hearse proceeded to the Potter’s Field 
(Allgemeine Grube) where the remains of the great 
composer were cast off like the carcass of a dog. Oh, 
the miserable tragedy of the thing! 


MOZART’S COMPOSITIONS. 


A mere catalog of Mozart's works assumes astonishingly 
large dimensions when we remember that he died at thirty- 


five. (A thematic catalog by Kéchel is some 700 pages in 
length.) Among his sixty odd compositions for the church 


there are 15 Masses and 4 Litanies. There are some twenty- 
one pieces for the stage, the most famous being Idomeneo, 
Il Seraglio, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutti, 
La clemenza di Tito and Die Zauberflite. For the orchestra 
he wrote 41 symphonies and some seventy pieces in other 
forms, There are also seventeen sonatas for the organ, 17 
piano sonatas, 5 sonatas for piano duet, numerous other 
piano pieces, 11 quintets, 30 strong quartets, 42 violin 
sonatas, numbers of concertos for special instruments as well 
as a vast number of compositions in various forms for the 
voice. 


MOZART’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


Mozart, a strikingly handsome child, grew up to be a man 
of medium height and medium weight without prepossessing 
physical attributes. His hair was brown, his nose somewhat 
large and aquiline and his eyes very blue. One ear was 
markedly different from the other, the concha or outer shell 
being missing. He was very fond of ornate dress and jew- 
elry. He was exceptionally cheery in his disposition and 
loved 4 good-natured prank. Hummel, Mozart’s pupil, took 
pains to “deny that he was given to excesses. Mozart was 
a notoriously bad business man, indeed he seems to have had 
none of the exacting characteristics which go to make a ‘fine 
business man.’”’ He was badly in debt at the time of his 
death, and his funeral expenses defrayed by his friends came 
to the pitiful sum of about ten dollars. He was buried in a 
pauper’s grave. 


A MOZART PROGRAM. 


Grade 
1, Prano (Six Hands), The Magic Flutc..... Me echo ae 
2. VocAL. SoLo, Lhe Violets... eee ae Gee He) 
3. Viotrn ‘Soto, Aves Verum...2.080 eee wanes 
4. Prano Soxo, Fantasia in D Mimor.......... BA 5K 
5. Prano Soto, Sonata No. 9, in A Major..........- 6 
6. Vocat Soro, Vot che Sapete=....0ee eee ed 
7. Piano Duet, Minuet from Symphony in E flat...4 
8. Piano Duet, Duet Sonata No. 4....... 4 Meret ca 
9. Prano Soto, Pastoral with Variations..... oh Bee 
10. Cuorus, Gloria from Twelfth Mass.............4 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

1. Tell something of Mozart’s ancestors. 

2. When and where was Mozart horn? 

38. Who was Mozart’s teacher? 

4. Tell something of the tours of the youthful Mozart 
and his sister. 
5. What famous piece of music did Mozart write from 
ages 
What distinctions did Mozart receive in Italy? 
7. Whom did Mozart marry? 
8. Name some of the famous operas of Mozart. 
9. Tell something of Mozart's financial struggles. 
10. What tragic circumstance marked the death of Mo- 


BOOKS ABOUT MOZART. 


Of the very numerous 
books about Mozart one of 
the most popular is a ro- 
mance written around his 
life by Heribert Rau, (Eng- 
lish Translation by KE, R. 
Sill). This partakes of the 
nature of fiction and yet 
holds close to the main facts 
in such a way that it makes 
very pleasant and profitable 
reading. The best biogra- 
phies of Mozart are those 
of Jahn, Nohl, Wilder and 
Breakspeare. Mention should 
also be made of the excell- 
ent concise biography written 
by the, late Ebenezer Prout. 
Friederich Kerst compiled 
and annotated the written 
words of Mozart and this 
has been ably translated by 
H. E. Krehbiel. 


MOZART’S SISTER. 


SS — ee UT 


PADEREWSKI’S PERIOD. 


Exceptine only Frédéric Chopin, no character 
in musical history has been so prominently iden- 
tified with Poland as Ignace Jan Paderewski. 
Considered from a popular standpoint, Chopin 
“never attained that wide celebrity which attaches 
to the great Polish virtuoso of the present day, 
whose fame has reached millions who may never hear 
him play, but are as familiar with his name as that of 
the greatest statesman of the day. Moreover, Pader- 
ewski is wholly of Polish origin while Chopin’s at- 
traction to France through ancestry and long residence 
need not be commented upon. 

Pronerly to appreciate the life and ideals of Paderew- 
ski it is desirable to refresh one’s memory regarding 
the remarkable country of his birth, for while Paderew- 
ski has shown his wide cosmopolitan experience in 
his compositions he is nevertheless a most devoted 
patriot of his native land. : 
Patriotism it is that binds American sympathies to 
Poland. The services of the Polish patriot Thaddeus 
Kosciuszko in our own Revolutionary War will never 
be forgotten in the new world. But even the zeal and 
skill of men like Kosciuszko were not able to save their 
country from the intrusion of the armies of more 
powerful countries. 


POLAND’S FORMER GREATNESS. 


In the third quarter of the XVI century, Polish rule 
extended over some 380,000 square miles—a territory 
greater than that occupied by all of our New England 
states and our Middle Atlantic states, with the addition 
of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Now, there is no 
Poland save in the hearts of the Polish people. What 
was once a great country of thirty-five million people 
is now tragically divided into provinces of Russia, 
Prussia and Austria; three-quarters of Poland’s former 
possessions went to Russia. 


Despite every imaginable effort on the part of the govern- 
ments to exterminate patriotism in what was once Poland, 
the Poles of to-day, who have politically ceased to be a 
nation for one hundred years, find the love of country burn- 
jing fiercer in their hearts than ever before. They have 
witnessed the genius of their great sons and daughters win- 
ning fame in all lands while their own soil has been under 
the heel of the despot. The revolutions of the fortics and 
the sixties failed to bring liberty to Poland despite the 
intervention of France and Great Britain; three-fourths of 
Poland paid dearly for her revolutions for Russia seized 
members of the aristocracy and hurried them off to Siberia 
like felons. 


Nevertheless, proud hearts still beat firm and strong, 
Waiting for the day when Fate will bring back the old 
glory of the desecrated land. 


POLISH HISTORY AND CULTURE, 


Polish history may be traced back to origins so 
remote as to be largely mythological. In the sixteenth 
century it was the most powerful country of eastern 
Europe. In this land of valiant knights and brilliant 
women, aristocracy flourished. The warring interests 
‘of these nobles resulted for a time in breaking the 
unity necessary for the preservation of military force 
and this contributed to the downfall of Poland. 
' It is estimated that over fifteen million people still 
speak the Polish language; Polish literature dates from 
antique poems said to have been produced in the tenth 
century. Doubtless the Polish writers best known in 
countries beyond the borders of Poland are Mickiewicz, 
Slowacki, Krasinski and Henryk Sienkiewicz. Those 
who have read the masterpieces of the last named 
writer (Pan Michael and With Fire and Sword) may 
‘estimate the depth and power of Polish literary at- 
tainments. 


A GENERAL ASPECT OF POLISH MUSIC. 
' Polish music is strongly characteristic in its national 
tendencies. At first religious and then moulded after the 
folk dances and folk songs of the people, it is very inti- 
mately interwoven with the everyday life of the men and 
women of all stations. The polonaise of the court is as 
ational in its spirit as the mazurka of the peasant. Among 
those who did much to preserve the beautiful in Polish 


» 


Ignace Jan Paderewski | 


El 


TO) 


“RHYTHM IS LIFE.” 
Folk Music, was Elsner, the teacher of Frédérie Chopin. 
Chopin’s own part in intreducing the charm of Polish 


melodies and rhythm to the musical world is well known 
to all cogniscenti. Another significant worker in Polish 
musical development of the past was Stanislaus, who, 
although born in Lithuania (1820), is chiefly known for 
his devotion to Polish musical ideals. 


PADEREWSKI’S ANCESTRY AND EARLY YEARS. 
was a gentleman farmer in 
Kurylowka (Podolia). Podolia is now a province of 
South West Russia. His mother was known to have 
been a woman of exceptional musical gifts but as she 
died when the boy was still very young he received no 
benefit from this source. 

Paderewski was born at his father’s homestead, 
November 6, 1860. When he was three years old his 
father was exiled to Siberia for suspected connection 
with a revolutionary project. When the exile returned 
after feeling the iron hand of Russian despotism, it 


Paderewski’s father 


Paderewski’s Home at Lausanne, 
Switzerland. 


ATT TTT 


2 
PB me 


Ee 


arlirik 
Weare = ema 


may be imagined that nothing was left undone 
to instill a love for Poland in the heart of the 
fair-haired little boy. During his father’s ab- 
sence the little orphan did not receive nearly so 
much musical education in his early childhood 
as the average child of to-day. His musical 
tendencies, however, were very manifest. It is said 
that when he was little more than an infant, he 
clambered up to reach the piano keyboard and pro- 
duce beautiful tones. Another story has it that an 
itinerant fiddler took an interest in the obvious talent 
of the child and gave him a few lessons now and 
then. His next teacher was one who visited the farm 
at intervals of one month and taught the boy operatic 
arrangements of a semi-popular type. 


AT THE WARSAW CONSERVATORY. 


At the age of twelve, Paderewski was sent to Warsaw 
where he entered the conservatory as a regular student. 
His piano teacher there was Janotha. Janotha was an 
excellent routine teacher with some inspirational force. 
Janotha’s daughter, Nathalie, later a pupil of Mme. 
Clara Schumann, also became a pianist of great note 
in Europe. Raguski, Paderewski’s teacher in Harmony 
at the Warsaw Conservatory, is little known outside of 
Poland. 

The early ambition of the future virtuoso was not 
that of becoming a great pianist, but rather that of 
becoming a great composer. It was with this purpose 
in view that at his early concerts he often played his 
own compositions. One instance pertaining to his 
early work as a pianist, is very interesting. He was 
engaged to play at a concert in a little rural music 
centre and found the piano so antiquated that the 
hammers persisted in staying away from the strings 
after they were struck. In order to give the concert 
he hired a man with a switch, who adjusted these 
hammers after they were struck as the program pro- 
ceeded. This was probably the first piano ever intro- 
duced with a partly human action: Paderewski 
re-entered the conservatory at Warsaw and when he 
was only eighteen years of age his proficiency was so 
pronounced that he was appointed a teacher in the 
institution. By this time he had married a Polish 
girl, and when he was only nineteen, the great tragedy 
of his life came with the death of his wife, leaving him 
with a son bright in mind but paralyzed in body. To 
this son Paderewski became the most devoted of 
fathers and although the boy died in youth, the great 
pianist was wrapped up in his life as in his own. 


PADEREWSKI AS A CONSERVATORY TEACHER. 


One has but to imagine what the effect of the routine 
life of the Conservatory was upon so sensitive a nature as 
that of the young Paderewski. From early morning to late 
at night he taught with little intermission, This was a 
kind of serfdom to a man with Paderewski’s temperament. 
His great desire was still that of devoting himself to musi- 
cal composition. It was then that he resolved to become 
a virtuoso in order that he might later have the leisure to 
become a composer. He determined to go to Leschetizky at 
Vienna, but stopped on the way in order to study com- 
position with Kiel and Urban at Berlin. Kiel was one of 
the most renowned teachers of counterpoint of his day and 
was professor of composition at the Royal High School of 
Music. Heinrich Urban was the teacher of composition 
at Kullak’s famous Academy. At the age of twenty-three 
Paderewski received the appointment of pianoforte teacher 
at the Strasburg Conservatory where his monthly income 
was so insignificant that most American teachers would 
have turned up their noses at it. 


INSPIRATION FROM A FAMOUS ACTRESS. 

It was while he was at Strasburg that Paderewski 
met his famous compatriot, Mme. Modjeska (Mme. 
Modrejewska). This distinguished artist’s father had 
been a musician and she immediately took an interest 
in the artistic career of the young man with such great 
ambition and high ideals. Herself one of the greatest 
of Shakesperian actresses of the time, she was able to 
give the young man advice of a practical nature which 
he was only too glad to accept. She found in him a 
“polished and genial companion; a man of wide cul- 


ture; of witty and 
sometimes biting 
tongue; brilliant in table 
talk; a man wide awake 
in all matters of per- 
sonal interest, who knew 
and understood the 
world, but whose inti- 
macy she and her hus- 
band especially prized 
for the elevation of his 
character and _ refine- 
ment of his mind.” 


WITH LESCHETIZKY. 
When he was twenty- 
six years of age, Pad- 
erewski, encouraged by 
Mme. Modjeska, found himself in Vienna under 
the guidance of Prof. Theodore Leschetizky and his 
equally renowned wife, Mme. Annette Essipoff (Es- 
sipova). This was in 1886 when Leschetizky was 
then fifty-six years of age and had been teaching for 
forty years, as he began when he was only fifteen 
years of age. Leschetizky was what can only be de- 
scribed as a natural teacher. Where Paderewski had 
found teaching in a conservatory galling to him, Les- 
chetizky found it his life work. Indeed he taught in 
the St. Petersburg Conservatory for over twenty-five 
years. 
Leschetizky’s wide experience extended from the day 
of his own teacher Czerny through that of his con- 
temporaries up to the present. Naturally he took an 
immense interest in his fellow countryman, Paderewski, 
who remained his pupil for the better part of four 
years. 

Paderewski, it should be remembered, was an ac- 
complished musician when he went to Leschetizky. He 
had already made a tour of part of Russia and had 
been engaged in teaching advanced pupils for several 
years. It was this spirit of ambition to do better and 
still better which led the brilliant young musician to a 
realization of his shortcomings and the necessity for 
more study. 

At the end of his first year with Leschetizky, Paderew- 
ski appeared in concert in Vienna and caused an 
immediate sensation. At the time the tendency was to 
attribute his great success to the special methods of 
Leschetizky. As a matter of fact, Leschetizky has 
often denied that he has any method except that 
employed by his Vorbereiter in removing the technical 
shortcomings of mature pianists whose previous train- 
ing has been more or less irregular. Leschetizky him- 
self has never posed as anything other than an artist 
teacher employing any justifiable ‘means to reach a 
given end. In the case of Paderewski, he had wonder- 
ful material with which to work as there can be no 
question that Paderewski would have been a great 
virtuoso irrespective of who might have been his 
teacher. 


Paderewski at the age of 20. 


IN PARIS AND LONDON. 


Paderewski’s first recital at the Salle Erard in Paris 
(1888) was attended by a very slender audience. For- 
tunately the great orchestral conductors Colonne and 
Lamoureux were present and realized at once that a 
master pianist had appeared upon the horizon. They 
engaged him immediately for important orchestral 
concerts and almost before he knew it, the artist who 
had waited so long and worked so hard for success was 
the lion of the hour in Paris. A later appearance at 
the Conservatoire established him as one of the great 
pianists of the day—the compeer of Liszt and Rubin- 
stein. 


London, like Paris, was a trifle apathetic at first but 
Paderewski soon became the idol of the hour in England, 
and has since been enormously popular with both the public 
and the musicians. The attitude of the conservative Eng- 
lish critics of the time was doubtless influenced by the 
sensational manner in which Padecrewski had been received 
in Paris and by the constant reference to his manner of 
wearing his hair, a matter due to his own taste and not 
to an attempt to secure publicity. The pianist formed the 
habit of not reading criticism of his playing or his per- 
sonality whether favorable or unfavorable, and went calmly 
along the even tenor of his way, letting the critics fight 
among themselves as to his ability. 


DEBUT IN AMERICA. 

Paderewski’s American début was made November 
17, 1891, in New York. His first audience was represen- 
tative and brilliant but here again most of the critics 
were loath to accept the famous pianist at his real 
artistic worth. The public, however, found his playing 
so remarkable that his success grew “like an avalanche.” 


Here was a pianist with high artistic ideals, abundant 
technic, who could speak to his audience through the 
keyboard so that they would find a newer and richer 
meaning in the messages of the masters. His conse- 
quent success in America is now a part of our musical 
history. While this has often been estimated in huge 
sums of money, such a criterion is perhaps unfair to 
American musical audiences and American musical 
standards. It is better ta say that people actually went 
hundreds of miles in order to be present at his recitals. 
Not even Rubinstein was received with such astonish- 
ing favor. 
IN GERMANY. 


Probably no pianist had more difficulty in breaking through 
conventions in Germany than had Paderewski. It seemed 
a part of the German musical life to condemn any attempt 
to avoid the stereotyped in technical methods. Indeed, 
when VPaderewski played in Berlin, he followed the per- 
formance of his own remarkable concerto by an encore 
from Chopin, Von Biilow, it is said, was so disgruntled 
at the ovation given to the Polish pianist that he showed 
his feeling by sneezing violently during the encore, The 
unsympathetic attitude of a few carping critics of the 
“Vaterland” affected the pianist so greatly that he refused 
to appear in Germany for some years. When he did appear, 
however, the public ovation given to him was exceptional 
in every way. 


PADEREWSKI AS A PIANIST. 


If one were asked to define Paderewski’s greatness 
as a pianist, the best phrase to employ would doubtless 
be, “It is because his grasp of his art is all-comprehen- 
sive.’ One does not speak of “the technic of Padere- 
wski,” the “pedaling of Paderewski,” the “brayoura of 
Paderewski,” as all these and other characteristics are 
merged into his art so that no one feature of his work 
at the keyboard outshadows any other. Perhaps one 
of the most intelligent of all appreciations is that of Dr. 
William Mason, who knew the pianist intimately, and 
was in turn greatly admired by Paderewski. Dr. 
Mason writes “The heartfelt sincerity of the man is 
noticeable in all that he does, and his intensity of 
utterance easily accounts for the strong hold he has 
over his audiences, Paderewski’s playing presents the 
beautiful contour of a living vital organism. It pos- 
sesses that subtle quality expressed in some measure by 
the German word Sehnsucht and in English as in- 
tensity of aspiration. This quality Chopin had and 
Liszt frequently spoke of it. It is the undefinable 
poetic haze with which Paderewski invests and sur- 
rounds all that he plays that renders him so unique.” 


PADEREWSKI THE COMPOSER. 


Mr. Henry T. Finck, an intimate of Paderewski, in 
his excellent brochure Paderewski and His Art (now 
unfortunately out of print), makes the following state- 
ment: “Of Paderewski it must be said as of Chopin, 
Liszt and Rubinstein, that great as is his skill as a 
pianist, his creative power is even more remarkable. 
Although he is a Pole and Chopin his idol, yet his 
music is not an echo of Chopin’s.” It has been noted 
that Paderewski’s first ambition was to become a com- 
poser; his whole life work has in fact been focused 
upon this firm desire. He became a pianist in order 
that he might purchase the leisure for composition. 
However, there can be no doubt that his epoch-making 
success as a virtuoso has so colored the public mind 
that it refuses to consider the master works of Paderew- 
ski while it readily admits those of less worthy com- 
posers not afflicted with a great reputation as a 
performer. Serious-minded musicians who have become 
intimately acquainted with Paderewski’s compositions 
for orchestra, the stage, the voice, the piano, etc., do 
not hesitate to declare him not only among the foremost 
musical creators of the present, but among the great 
masters of all times. 

The little Minuet in G, known as “Paderewski’s 
Minuet,” although a bagatelle, is probably one of the 
five most popular pieces ever written, yet very few of 
Paderewski’s other more noteworthy piano pieces are 
widely known. His concerto for piano and orchestra 
is one of the finest works of its description and readily 
ranks with the great concertos of Chopin, Beethoven 
and Brahms. The Chants du Voyageur are extremely 
melodious and full of character. Many of the piano 
pieces in the set known as Six Humoresques de Concert, 
particularly the Caprice in the Style of Scarlatti and 
the Burleska, are singularly distinctive and interesting. 
The Burleska has a “bite” to it which makes it one of 
the most fascinating piano pieces of its class. The 
Toccata Dans le Désert is full of atmosphere, but de- 
mands a very skillful interpreter to bring out its full 
meaning. Of the four Morceaux—Légende, Mélodic, 
Theme Varié in A and Nocturne in B Flat, the last 
named is possibly the most played. The Concerto for 
piano and orchestra in A minor is easily one of the 
greatest works in larger forms written for piano. One 


44 


critic has rated it as the greatest concerto since Schu- 
mann. Paderewski’s songs are rich and full of char- 
acter while always sincere in their delineation of the 
poet’s thought. His Symphony in B minor, which first 
became known in the United States through the fine 
performances of it given by the Boston Symphony 
Orchestra, is a work of majestic lines, magnificently 
orchestrated and filled with the great composer’s 
splendid melodic ideas and harmonic treatment. It is 
said that he has written the woes of his native land into 
this masterpiece. His opera Manru should be heard 
more frequently as many concede it to be Paderewski’s 
finest production. This opera was first given at the 
Court Theatre in Dresden in 1901. The libretto is by 
Paderewski’s gifted friend Alfred Nossig. The plot 
deals with a gypsy subject. The orchestration of this 
work is exceptionally powerful but always appropriate. 
The Polish Fantasia for piano and orchestra is widely 
admired, and some concede to this the place of first 
honor among Paderewski’s compositions; wherever the 
pianist has played this original and characteristic work 
it has always produced a furore. 


PADEREWSKI’S PHILANTHROPIES. 


Paderewski has given lavishly of the wealth bestowed 
upon him by enthusiastic music lovers. Upon one occasion 
when he had promised his services for a benefit to be held 
for the Actor’s Fund in America, he found that he was 
unable to come, He promptly sent his check for $1,000, 
explaining that he was physically incapacitated. His best 
known philanthropy in America is the Paderewski Fund, 
consisting of the sum of $10,000 to be devoted to the pur- 
pose of fostering musical composition in America, Once 
every three years a prize of about $500 is given to some 
fortunate competitor. Among those who have succeeded thus 
far have been Henry K. Hadley, Horatio W. Parker, Arthur 
sird and Arthur Shepard. The fund was founded in 1900, 
and is a very gratifying evidence of.Paderewski’s interest 
in American musical development. During the Buropean 
war Paderewski has given enormously from his private 
means to relieve suffering in Poland. 


PADEREWSKI’S PERSONALITY. 

The philanthropies of Paderewski represent an in- 
teresting side of his nature. His intense seriousness 
at times makes it difficult to believe that he may be 
the most youthful and vivacious of men. His friends 
are well aware of his quick wit as well as his broad 
general learning. Linguistically speaking, his accom- 
plishments are very exceptional even for a Pole. He 
speaks English, for instance, with so slightea suggestion 
of an accent that it is not noticeable. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Tell something of Poland’s former size and greatness. 

2. When and where was Paderewski born? 

38. With whom did Paderewski study? 

4. What was Paderewski’s first ambition? 

5. What famous actress aided Paderewski? 

6. Tell something of Paderewski’s study with Lesche: 
‘y 3 


7. How were Paderewski’s first appearances received ? 
8. When was his debut in America made? 

9. Give some account of his work as a composer. 
0. Tell something of Paderewski’s philanthropies. 


A PADEREWSKI PROGRAM. 


In the preparation of the following list the main con- 
siderations have been general musical interest and not too 
great difficulty. Paderewski possesses a remarkable sense 
of appropriateness. His orchestral compositions, unlike the 
few essays of Chopin, are real orchestral works, and his 
pianoforte compositions, unlike many of Beethoven's piano 
pieces, are always idiomatically pianistic. Many of his 
works, however, are so far beyond the ability of the aver- 
age performer that we can not list them in a program like 
the following, f 


Piano Solos 


1 Mazurka. Op. 9 (Book IT), No. IV. see 
2 Krakowiak, Op. 9 (Book II), No. V 
3 Polonaise. Op. 9 (Book! 11), No: Vi). seen 
4 Burlesque. Op. 14; No, 4.4). |. 35 20 Gee 
5 Au Soir. Op. 10, No. 1 
6 Menuet in G. Op. 14, 2} 
7 Barcarolle. Op. 10, No. 4.... 
8 Cracovienne. Op. 14, No. 6 
9 Caprice (Genre Scarlatti), 
- Grade 
10 Chant du Voyageur 5 
11 Chant @Amour, Op. 
14, HINGE 2). eet 
12 Legende No, 2..... 
13 Legende. Op. 16, 
Nos iSceentenes 
14 Scherzino, Op. 10, 
Now Bye eeieeiieu ee 
15 Nocturne. Op, 16, 
Ont ewan oe vee 


a more difficult type 
of composition will find in 
the Variations and Fugue in 
A Minor and in the Sonata, 
Op. 21, modern pianoforte 
works which should be in 
the repertoire of every very 
advanced pianist. 


BOOKS ON PADEREWSKI. 


Of the biographies and 
appreciations of Paderewski, 
probably the best that have 
ever been written ‘are those : 
of Henry T. Finck (out of 
print), Edward A, Baughan 
and Alfred Nossig. There is 
an excellent life in Polish by 
Opienski, the noted Polish 


critic, Paderewski at the age of 1 


ROSSINI’S PERIOD. 


Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born a score 
of years before Verdi and died some thirty years 
before the later Italian master. The periods of 
these masters is therefore quite different, because 
Rossini retired from active musical composition 
some years before Verdi began to produce his 
better work. 

It was Napoleon Bonaparte, the brilliant and terrible, 
who caused an awakening in Italy during the last ten 
years of the eighteenth century. The Italians saw the 
necessity for uniting against a common enemy, and 
the much-divided country commenced one of those won- 
derful processes of coalescence which mark the power 
of a race to make national boundaries of its own. 
Italy now had a flag to fight for and fierce were the 
battles that ensued before complete political unifica- 
tion was possible. Napoleon’s influence should not be 
regarded as a baneful one. In order to hold sway over 
the Italian peninsula he instituted many reforms that 
had been long awaited. There was also a revival in 
the arts and in literature. These innovations, however, 
although considerable, could hardly repair the pillage 
of art works which the all-consuming Bonaparte 
transferred to his own French capital. 

With the fall of the Napoleonic reign, Italy entered 
what has since become known as the Italian Resur- 
rection (1815-1914) ; at first political, then economical 
and educational. Rossini’s period of greatest produc- 
tivity came at the beginning of this Renaissance, as his 
wholly delightful and masterly Barber of Seville was 
first produced in 1816. 


ROSSINI’S ANCESTRY AND BIRTH. 


Like so many of the Italian composers who have 
reached great musical heights, Rossini came from a 
family in very humble circumstances. His mother was 
the daughter of a baker, and his father an inspector of 
slaughter houses, who, in addition to this revolting 
occupation, had the more lofty position of town 
trumpeter. Both were people with light sunny hearts, 
and the boy’s youth was one of merriment, which he 
carried with him through life. For a time the father 
was confined in jail for political reasons, but this was 
to the boy’s advantage, since the mother was thrown 
upon her own resources and was successful in secur- 
ing a position as a kind of female comedian (prima 
donna buffa) in some of the smaller opera houses. 

Rossini, “the Swan of Pesaro,” was born, February 
29, 1792, at Pesaro, Italy. When his mother was sing- 
ing in opera the famous composer was little more than 
a child. When the father was liberated from prison, 
he undertook to play the French horn and succeeded 
in getting positions in the opera houses where his wife 
sang. Unfortunately, however, the boy was left at home 
in Pesaro in the care of a. pork butcher. The child’s 
meagre musical education came from a liquor dealer 
named Prinetti, who attempted to teach the boy the 
harpsichord. Prinetti knew but little of his subject, 
and in fact played the scales with two fingers only. 
The little Rossini made so much fun of him that he 
was abandoned by his teacher as hopeless and was 
apprenticed to a blacksmith. 

The anvil and the forge were too much for an in- 
dolent nature like that of the future composer and he 
once more decided to take up music, this time under 
a teacher named Angelo Tesi. Before long he was 
able to sing in church for pay, although he was only 
ten years of age. A little later he sang in Paer’s 
opera, Camilla, but not caring to become a dramatic 
singer, he soon gave up this work. In addition to 
being a singer he was a capable player of the French 
horn, as well as a good piano accompanist, and in this 
way managed to eke out a fairly good living when he 
was only thirteen years of age. He toured with his 
father in itinerant opera companies. The combined 

salary of both was about one dollar a day. 


_— > — 


1 


UARUTOUUGHURGQETANGTUNGNODUGERODNGHUUUREUOT OOTY —— 


$I 


x 
1792—THE REAL ROSSINI—1868 fo 


> 


es 
Rosen 


“Everything Ought to Sound Melodious.” 


AT THE BOLOGNA CONSERVATORY. 


Through the influence of friends he was able to 
enter the Conservatorio of Bologna in 1807. There 
he became the pupil of Padre Mattei, and Cavadagni. 
The former was one of the most noted of Italian 
teachers of counterpoint and the latter was a fa- 
mous ’cellist. Rossini had already composed some ju- 
venile works, including an opera (Demetrio). Mattei 
was a hard, pedantic teacher. Rossini was a tempera- 
mental, impulsive boy. Imagine the inevitable con- 
flict! It came one day when Mattei told his pupil that 
while he knew enough to write for the stage he must 
know far more if he wished to write for the church. 
“What,” said Rossini, “do you mean to say that I 
know enough to write operas? Then I shall study no 
more, for my only desire is to write operas.” 

Necessity forced the talented boy to teach, play 
accompaniments, in fact to do anything to eke out a 
living for himself and his parents. For a time he con- 
ducted the “Accademia dei Concordi” of Bologna. 
After he had been at the Conservatorio one year he 
was awarded the first prize for his cantata, J] Pianto 
d’armonia per la morte d’Orfeo. He was devoted to 
the works of the German masters, Haydn, Mozart, etc., 
to such an extent, indeed, that he was dubbed “Il 
Tedeschino” (the little German). Those who are fa- 
miliar with William Tell will see at once what his 
long drilling with the German craftsmanship did for 
him. This work, full of Italian fervor, has a kind of 
musical finish unmistakably Teutonic. 


ROSSINI’S FIRST SUCCESS. 

Through the good offices of his friend the Marquis 
Cavalli, Rossini was commissioned to write an opera 
for the San Mosé Theatre at Venice. This opera was 
La Cambiale di Matrimonio (Matrimonial Market) and 
was produced in 1810 when Rossini was eighteen. 
The reception was altogether flattering and helped 
Rossini to decide upon his career. This work was the 
beginning of a long series of operatic. compositions 
which unfortunately are of very uneven merit. Some 
are genuinely great masterpieces, others sink to the 
level of mediocrity. Here and there through all his 
works one may find passages of great beauty, although 
he did not hesitate to follow in the footsteps of Han- 
del by enriching later works with the best passages 
from earlier works so little changed that the resem- 
blance is easily seen. 

45 


Rossini was always ne in wait for an op- 
portunity to joke. His wit was proverbial. Once 
he was commissioned to write an opera for the 
manager of the San Mosé Theatre in Venice, 
merely because that manager wanted to prevent 
him from taking a commission of five hundred 
francs from another manager. Rossini was 
bound by contract to the San Mosé manager and com- 
pleted the work, but was none the less mad. When 
the opera was produced it was found that he had in- 
troduced so many musical jokes, such as hitting on 
the lamp shades, repeating certain phrases until they 
became ridiculous, introducing a funeral march in a 
comic scene, forcing the singers to sing at pitches that 
made their work so absurd that the performance ended 
in an uproar and was never repeated. 

Rossini’s next opera made a monumental hit and 
set all Italy singing. This was Tancredi, a really very 
effective work, but rarely performed at this time. 
Some of the melodies are very contagious, although 
the work as a whole is not of the altitude of William 
Tell. 

After producing many other fairly successful works 
Rossini was invited to Naples by Barbaja, the leading 
impresario of the city. The rising composer was glad 
to get a position which insured him an income of 
something over $175.00 a month. His first opera pro- 
duced in Naples, Elisabeth, OQucen of England, was 
especially successful and did away with the jealousy 
of other older Neapolitan composers such as Zingarelii 
and Paisiello, who at first looked upon the coming 
of the young composer as an intrusion. 

Paisiello’s best known work was Almaviva, ossia 
Vinutile precausione (Almaviva, or The Fruitless Pre- 
caution). The libretto of this work was taken from 
Beaumarchais’ Barbier de Seville and Rossini desired 
to set the same text and asked Paisiello for his per- 
mission in taking the same libretto. The older com- 
poser gave it with some reluctance, but when the opera 
was produced for the first time at the Argentina Thea- 
tre in Rome (February 5, 1816), Paisiello had reason 
to believe that the young composer would be punished 
for his presumption. The public was attached to the 
works of Paisiello and Almaviva had been a public 
favorite for years. Naturally it resented a young com- 
poser taking a famous libretto, and when the work was 
first produced the audience hissed it fiercely. However, 
it was received with less disfavor on the second night, 
and it eventually became the most liked opera of the 
times, under the title, The Barber of Seville. Of all 
Rossini’s works this opera is given more frequently 
than any other. The opera was completed and pro- 
duced in one month. The composer received $400.00 
for the work, not a bad figure for the time. 


ROSSINI AS A REFORMER. 

In December Rossini’s Otello was produced at the 
Teatro del Fondo in Naples. The master’s tendencies 
toward German musical art were quite evident in this 
work and may be regarded as a reform. The Italian 
public of that day, like our theatre-going public of the 
present, demanded a happy ending, and the plot of 
Shakespeare’s masterpiece was actually changed to 
curry public favor. 

1817 saw the production of Cenerentola, and this 
opera also became very popular, although it is rarely 
heard now. The work represents Rossini’s fatal habit 
of borrowing from himself. No doubt it is thoroughly 
ethical for a composer to repeat passages from earlier 
operas that have proved failures, but it is hardly an 
artistic course, since the result is likely to be lacking 
in unity. : 

Works now followed in rapid succession. 
Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto was given at the San Carlo 
at Naples. This oratorio (Moses in Egypt) was in the 
more or less florid style of the day and only portions 
of it remain popular at this time. 


In 1818 


Detailed description 


of the lesser known 
operas of Rossini is 
hardly in place here, as 
in many cases they have 
passed so completely out 
of use that it is difficult 
to obtain full copies of 
some of them. 

In 1821 Rossini mar- 
ried a famous singer, 
Isabella Colbran, . who 
was seven years his 
senior and possessed an 
income of $2500.00 a 
year. It is hinted that 
Rossini was enticed by 
this promise of financial 
ease, but it is known 
that it was this singer 
who had done great things in inducing the composer 
to produce some of his best serious works. In 1822 
Rossini made his début in Vienna, where he visited 
Beethoven, whom he found a decrepit, broken down 
man. In 1823 Semiramide was performed in Venice. 
This was an altogether unusual operatic work for the 
time and Rossini knew it. The subject, however, was 
not cheerful enough to suit the care-free Venetian 
taste. Rossini was sorely disappointed and when he 
received an offer to write an opera for London for 
the sum of $1200 he jumped at the chance. In Lon- 
don he immediately became the lion of the hour. His 
Zelmira was produced with success and in addition to 
this he gave concerts of his works at which he sang 
accompanying himself at the piano. The King took 
an immense interest in him and often went far out of 
his way to indicate this. Rossini’s original operatic 
project in London brought him no returns, but his 
London visit brought him the sum of $35,000.00, while 
his own countrymen had let him struggle along on 
trifling fees. 


ISABELLA COLBRAN, ROSSINI’S 
FIRST WIFE, 


ROSSINI IN PARIS. 


In the Fall of 1824 Rossini became director of the 
Theatre Italien in Paris and commenced that part of 
his career which proved most delightful to him. In- 
deed, he became so popular in Paris that when his 
contract with the Théatre expired he was appointed 
Composer to the King and Inspector General of Song 
in France with an income of about $4000.00 a year. 

In 1829 Rossini brought out his opera William Tell, 
which was at once recognized as his masterpiece. Here 
we find a workmanship and originality which indi- 
cates that Rossini must have had a particularly in- 
dustrious and conscientious spell, for many of his 
works exhibited both a slip-shod lack of attention to 
details and a tendency not to be particularly careful 
about originality. Indeed many of Rossini’s themes 
have been traced to sources other than his own brain. 

Rossini returned to Italy to visit his father, carry- 
ing with him the assurance of a pension from the 
French government. Later he learned that King 
Charles had abdicated and his connections with the 
court of France were therefore estranged. This and 
other disappointments so discouraged the tempera- 
mental composer that he resolved to write no more. 
His Stabat Mater was given in Paris in 1841 with 
huge success. Although he lived until November 13, 
1868, he ceased to produce works of real musical con- 
sequence nearly thirty years before his death. Indeed 
he took a pride in being an epicure and liked nothing 
better than attempting to cook choice viands and then 
regaling his friends with them. His first wife died 
in 1845 and two years later he married Olympe 
Pélissier. His later years were spent in Paris. Dur- 
ing this time he composed a great many pieces for 
the pianoforte, all of which have since sunk into 
oblivion, although his widow sold the right of them 
to one Baron Grant for no less than $20,000.00, A 
large part of his fortune went toward the foundation 
of a conservatory in Pesaro, his native city, although 
there were some bequests of a charitable nature. 


ROSSINI’S STANDING AS A COMPOSER. 


The uneven character of Rossini’s music led many 
to condemn his good works, because of the weakness 
of his works of less consequence./* Berlioz was par- 
ticularly outspoken in condemning it, while Schubert, 
Schumann and Mendelssohn admired his best .works 
very greatly. Some of the effects in orchestration he 
achieved are astonishingly fine and even in this day of 
orchestral extremes sound exceptionally effective. 
Many of his melodies are exceedingly rich, and any one 
who is familiar with the delicious Largo al Factotem 
from The Barber knows how individual he may be- 


come. Following is a list of his best known works in 
alphabetical order: Adelaide (1818), Adina (1818), 
Armida (1817), Assedio (1828), Aureliano (1813), 
Barber of Seville (1816), Bianca e Faliero (1819), J 
due Bruschino (1857), La Cambiale di matrimonio 
(1812), Cambio della valigia (1812), La Cenerentola 
(1817), Le Comte Ory (1828), La Dame du Lac 
(1825), Demetrio e Polibio (1812), Eduardo e Chris- 
tina (1819), Elisabetta (1815), Equivoco stravagante 
(1811), Ermoine (1819), La Ladra Gazza (1817), 
Guillaume Tell, (1829), L’Ingano felice (1812), Jtaliano 
in Algeri (1813), Maometto Secundo (1820), Matilda 
di Shabran (1857), Moise (1827), Mosé in Egitto 
(original Italian version, 1818), Occasione fa il Ladre 
(1816), Otello (1816), La Pietra del Parangone 
(1812), La pie Voleuse (1822), Ricciardo e Zoraide 
(1818), Robert Bruce (1846), La Scala di seta (1812), 
Semiramide (1823), Le Siége de Corinthe (1820), 
Sigismondo (1815), Tancredi (1813), Torvaldo e 


Dorliska (1815), Il Turco in Italia (1814), Il Viggio a 
Riems (1825), Zelmira (1824), Stabat Mater (1832). 


A ROSSINI RECITAL. 


In this series it has been possible to make up pro- 
grams from the works of most all the composers rep- 
resented, but most of the works of Rossini are little 


Rossrnv’s Favorite ATTIRE. 


more than arrangements from his larger works. His 
Piano pieces are practically extinct. The following. 
however, is offered as a representative selection rather 
for a club meeting than for a recital program: 

1. Prano Durt—Fanfare from “William Tell” 


Owerpir errs daa. ilerneees Grade 4 
2. VocaL Soto—Largo et Factotem (Barber 
OL Seville) p= asap eee Grade 10 


3. Viotin Soto—Cujus Animam (May be 
played from vocal copy)..Grade 5 
4, PiANo Soro—/nflammatus (Transcribed by 


Engelmann) antes canes Grade 4 
5. Duet—Barber of Seville... 0....0....0.... Grade 3 
6. VocaL Soto—Una Voce poco fa........... Grade 8 
7. CHORUS Oar HOUGL MEAN ae osc. ee Grade 3 


Also Arrangements from the Rossini Operas. 


SAINT-SAENS’ RECOLLECTIONS OF ROSSINI. 


The following extract is from a book of memory 
pictures by the great French composer Saint-Saéns : 

“Tt is difficult in our day and generation to form an 
estimate of the position occupied for nearly a half 
century by Rossini in our good city of Paris. Long 
retired from active work, he nevertheless maintained 
in his splendid idleness a stronger hold on the popular 
imagination than all the others in full activity. All 
Paris courted the honor of admission to the mag- 
nificent apartment with the high windows looking out 
upon the corner of the Boulevarde and the corner of 
the chaussée d’Antin. Since the demi-god never went 
out o’ nights, his familiars were always sure of find- 
ing him at home; and at one time or another the most 
diverse circles of society rubbed elbows at his mag- 
nificent gatherings, where the most brilliant singers and 
the most illustrious virtuosos were to be heard. 

“The lowest kind of sycophantry surrounded the mas- 


46 


ter without besmirching him, for he knew its exa 
value, and dominated his ordinary environment wil) 
all the hauteur of a superior intelligence which dor 
not care to reveal itself to the first comer. 


ROSSINI’S PARISIAN PUBLIC. 

“Whence did he get so much glory? His work 
apart from the Barber, William Teil, and occasion: 
representations of Moise, appear to have lost thei 
hold. One still goes to see Othello at the Théatr 
Italien, but that is in order to hear the “high C” o 
Tamberlick! . Rossini entertained so littl 
illusion that he attempted to oppose the effort to instal 
Semiramis in the repertoire of the Opera. Neverthe 
less, the Parisian public made a veritable cult of him 

“The public—I am speaking of the would-be musica 
public—was at that time divided into two warring fae 
tions: the lovers of melody, who former the grea’ 
majority, and included the critics; and the subscriber: 
to the Conservatory and the quartet concerts o 
Maurin, Alard, Armingaud, devoted to music consid- 
ered “learned”—“poseurs’—as the others called them 
who pretended to admire works which they could nof 
in the least understand. 


ROSSINI AND BEETHOVEN. 


“From a few words allowed to fall in moments of 
intimacy, I have gathered that this was a source of 
trouble to him. It was a curious turn of Fate that 
should have made Rossini, in spite of himself without 
doubt, serve as an engine of war against Beethoven 
in Vienna, where the success of Tancredi ended for- 
ever the theatrical aspirations of the composer of 
Fidelio, and then in Paris should have used William 
Tell to avert the encroachment of the Symphony and 
Chamber music. 

“IT was twenty years old when M. and Mme, Viardot 
presented me to Rossini. He invited me to his little 
evening receptions, where he welcomed me with the 
bland amiability of which he was past-master. About 
a month later, when he found I did not want him to 
give me a private hearing either as a composer or as 
a pianist, he changed his attitude towards me. 

“Come and see me in the morning,’ he said, ‘and 
we'll have a little chat. 

“I hastened to accept this flattering invitation, and 
found a Rossini totally different from that of the even- 
ing before, interesting to the highest degree, open- 
minded, with ideas which, if not advanced. were at 
least large and lofty in spirit.” 


ROSSINI, WIT AND EPICURE 
Rossini was an epicure and several of the stories 
connected with his name bear on the pleasures of the 
table. He had a fastidious palate and declared that he 


could cook rice and macaroni better than any one 
he knew. 

“Maestra,” said some one to him, “do you remem- 
ber that famous dinner given you in Milan, when they 
Well, I was seated 


served a gigantic macaroni pie? 
next you.” 

“Indeed!” replied Ros- 
sim; “I remember the 
macaroni, but I fail to 
recognize you.” 

On another - occasion, 
at a dinner in Paris at 
which he was observed 
to remain silent and ab- 
sorbed, a banker who 
was on anything but 
friendly terms with him 
passed savories to the 
lady on his right, say- 
ing: “I have already 
eaten as many of these 
as Samson slew Philis- 
tines.” 

“Yes, and with the 


Same weapon,” retorted yonuMENT TO ROSSINI IN | 
Rossini, THE LICEO AT PESSARO. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. : 
1. Tell something of the history of Italy at the time of 
Rossini. 
When and where was Rossini born? | 
Tell something of Rossini’s education, “a 
How old was Rossini when he made his’ first success? 
In what city did Rossini reach his greatest fame? 
Why was the Barber of Seville a failure at first? 
. Which opera is regarded as Rossini’s masterpiece? 
. State some facts about Rossini’s last years. 
. Was Rossini distinguished as a wit? 
0. When and where did Rossini die? 


PA SAR! 


_ 
I.) 


ll i ae. 


—— 


nel 


RUBINSTEIN’S PERIOD. 


Tue three dynasties of Russian monarchs 
who ruled over the vast country immediately 
prior to the birth of Rubinstein made a power- 
ful impression upon the life and manners of 
the sombre territory washed by the waters 
of three oceans, Catharine (1762-1796), cruel- 
est of tyrants since the terrible Ivan, was never- 
theless a woman of tremendous ability, filled with a 
progressive spirit which enabled her to compensate in 
a measure for her dissolute habits. She furthered edu- 
cation, commerce, industries and even personal liberty. 
Her son, Paul I, who succeeded her, inherited all his 

mother’s faults and very little of her personal force 
or intellectual strength. He fostered countless intrigues 
until his assassination by persons high in his own court 
came as a natural consequence to his reign of oppres- 
sion. His successor was Alexander I, who although he 
employed drastic means to carry out many of the poli- 
cies of his father and his grandmother, possessed other 
qualities which made him one of the foremost Czars 
of all time. With the northern winter as an ally, he 
drove the redoubtable Napoleon, drunk with ceaseless 
triumphs, back to France. 

When Alexander died in 1825 he was unwillingly suc- 
ceeded by his younger brother Nicholas, who became 
an absolute monarch in all that the Russian meaning 
of the word implies. Restrictions were placed upon 
any intellectual effort that gave the least possible sug- 
gestion of a connection with the constant political erup- 
tions breaking out in all parts of the country. The icy 
road to Siberia was worn with the bleeding feet of 
exiles, some guilty, some innocent. Not even this im- 
perial cruelty could paralyze the master minds who 
were fighting for the larger cultural field that was to 
come to them in following reigns. 

It was not until the death of Nicholas I and the 
succession of Alexander II that the intellectual awaken- 
ing of Russia became possible. In 1855 a new spirit 
of reform arose, leading to the freeing of twenty-three 
million serfs in 1861. Since then Russia has been a 
land of continual progress. 

It may be seen, however, that during Rubinstein’s 
youth, which he fortunately spent in part away from 
his homeland, Russia was hardly the land in which to 
propagate a new musical art. The case of Glinka is 
a remarkable exception, indicating the power of a great 
original genius to rise above adverse conditions. How- 
ever, it is likely that even his success would not have 
been possible had he not lived for some time in Italy 
and Germany. During the reign of Alexander II the 
Russians were able to enjoy the home life to which 
they are beautifully devoted. The whole land has in 

fact been undergoing a great intellectual renaissance. 
Popular Russian educational advancement has been very 
striking in many ways. For instance, when the first 
volumes of the philosophy of Her- 
bert Spencer reached the country, 
they were read by family groups and 
then given to a horseman who would 
‘ride to distant groups, so that in a 
short time hundreds had the best 
thoughts from one book. It was in 
such an atmosphere and sttch a land 
‘that Rubinstein spent his boyhood 
days and later years. 


RUBINSTEIN’S ANCESTRY. 


Rubinstein was of Jewish ancestry. 
‘His father, Gregori Romanovich, was 
a Russian subject who settled in Bes- 
sorabia, that little section of Southern 
Russia which adjoins,Roumania. There 
he established a pencil factory and 
Secured a fairly good living as a 
_ merchant. Rubinstein’s mother, Ka- 
léria Christofdrovna Rubinstein (born 
Levenstein), was well educated, espe- 
cially in music. The family included 
Six children, and the home life must 
have been happy despite the unsettled 
disposition of the father, who in search 
of a fortune moved several times to 
distant cities. 


| ee 


“Flow Often Have I Suffered from Hunger!” 


RUBINSTEIN’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Rubinstein was born November 28, 1830, at Wech- 
wotynetz (sometimes spelled Vichvatijnetz), Russia. 
The date of his birth is variously given as the 16th, 
18th and the 30th of the month, these differences 
being due to the method of reckoning the calendar in 
the modern style and in the old style. (Old style 
November 16th corresponds to modern style November 
28th.) In 1834 or 1835 the entire Rubinstein family 
moved to Moscow where Anton was brought up, and 
where the father established a pin and pencil factory. 


RUBINSTEIN’S EARLY TRAINING. 


Anton’s first lessons were received from his mother, 
who taught both him and his brother Nicholas, later 
destined to found a school of music in Moscow similar 
to that which Anton founded in St. Petersburg. The 
mother had no idea of making great musicians of her 
sons but taught them music simply as a part of their 
education. Rubinstein tells of his youthful repertoire 
which included many works of Hummel, Hertz, Mos- 
cheles, Kalkbrenner, Czerny, Diabelli, Clementi and other 
famous composers of the day. 

The Rubinsteins shortly acquired an extremely musi- 
cal neighbor in the person of Mme. Barbara Grtnberg. 


IMPERIAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC AT ST, PETERSBURG, FOUNDED BY ANTON 


47 


)HARUUUAUTDOREDRNOROARONOUQUOQNOER 


cA 
—) \iemmenegecwet 
poe 


Her daughter Julia was a fine performer, and 
er progress incited Antono to higher accomplish- 
ments. 

Rubinstein’s mother, at that time in less 
prosperous circumstances, sought the leading 
teacher in Moscow, Alexander Villowing, and 
told him that her means would not per- 
mit her to pay his full rate, but that she hoped 
that her son’s talent would warrant him taking the boy 
as a pupil at a reduced rate. He accepted the boy 
without any tuition fee and became his sole teacher. 
Rubinstein never forgot his debt of gratitude to Villow- 
ing, and spoke of him as a kind of “second father.” 
Villowing played but very little himself but was a 
most excellent teacher. Rubinstein was everlastingly 
grateful to him for giving him a thorough, firm founda- 
tion in technic, “a foundation which could never be 
shaken.”, So little is known of Villowing that the 
sparse mention of him in standard reference works 
does not tell who his own teachers were. When he 
died in St. Petersburg at the age of seventy, his: sole 
fortune consisted of a few coins and a few old fiddles. 


RUBINSTEIN’S EARLY APPEARANCES. 


Rubinstein’s first appearance was made in his tenth 
year in Moscow when he played pieces by Hummel, 


Thalberg, Field and Henselt. Accompanied by his 


“teacher he traveled all over Europe giving concerts. 


These he describes as being real fun to him. Indeed 
he looked upon the concerts as a. child does upon his 
playthings. The only things he rebelled against were 
the strenuous methods of education, which in those 
days were emphasized by the use of frequent punches 
and slaps, to say nothing of the ever-ready ferule. 

In 1840 Rubinstein spent the better part of the year 
in Paris, jealously guarded by his teacher who was 
afraid that he might fall into other hands. He gave 
numerous concerts, and at one both Chopin and Liszt 
were present. Liszt took a particular interest in the 
boy and advised him to tour through Germany while 
completing his musical education. It was a day of 
infant prodigies but Rubinstein was obviously the great- 
est of all. In England he was welcomed by the music- 
loving Queen Victoria, then in the prime of her youth. 

In 1843 he returned to St. Petersburg, where he was 
richly received. He admits of mimicking Liszt at that 
time, and also tells of the wonderful effect upon him 
made by the Italian tenor Rubini, whose charming 
voice he strove to imitate upon the keyboard. The 
Emperor Nicholas was an amateur musician, and took 
great interest in the boy, calling him jokingly “Your 
Excellency.” 

Upon returning to Moscow, Rubinstein found him- 
self laden with rich presents from crowned heads but 
without other funds. As they were 
very poor these presents were all 
pawned at the government pawn shop 
(collateral bank). In 1844 the family 
removed to Berlin where the boy stud- 
ied harmony and counterpoint under 
Dehn. Here he also studied the Rus- 
sian language and the Greek religion 
under Father Dormidont. He also 
studied modern languages at the 
same time. He also received instruc- 
tion from Marx upon the advice of 
Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. 


RUBINSTEIN IN VIENNA. 


In Vienna Rubinstein lived in an at- 
tic and gave lessons for very cheap 
rates. Indeed, he was so poor that he 
was obliged to go without meals fo- 
two and three days ata time. Liszt fin- 
ally rescued him from his penury after 
avear anda half of literal starving. In 


RUBINSTEIN. 


1848 Rubinstein returned to Berlin and “threatened” to 
go to America. In 1849 he returned to Russia and 
had great difficulty in entering the country owing to 
the fact that he did not have a passport. His com- 
positions were seized and later sold as waste paper. 
In St. Petersburg Rubinstein spent most of his time 
in composing and in teaching. His opera Dmitri 
Donskof was first produced in 1852, From 1854 to 
1858, Rubinstein toured musical Europe with the great- 
est success. In 1854 Rubinstein lived with Liszt for 
some six months at Weimar, practically as a member 
of the latter’s family. 


ANTON RUBINSTEIN AND HIS 


BROTHER NICHOLAIT, 


THE FOUNDATION OF A GREAT CONSERVATORY. 


In 1858 Rubinstein returned to St. Petersburg 
crowned with the laurels from Western Europe. With 
the assistance of some friends he was successful in 
founding the Russian Musical Society in 1859 (now 
Imperial Musical Society). In 1862 he founded the 
St. Petersburg Conservatory with Leschetizky as Pro- 
fessor of Piano and Wieniawski as head of the violin 
department. Rubinstein himself was director. Musical 
culture had been at a comparatively low ebb in Russia. 
There were many able amateurs but few professional 
musicians of ability. Once after Rubinstein had been 
to confession at the Kazan Cathedral he was questioned 
as to his profession, and when he told them that he 
was an artist, a professional musician, the deacon re- 
fused to recognize such a vocation and put him down 
as “the son of a merchant of the second guild.” Actors 
and painters had long been recognized as members of 
useful professions, but it was not until 1860, when the 
graduates of the conservatory were permitted to assume 
a title (Bachelors of Music), that their standing was 
acknowledged. The Conservatory met with all man- 
ner of opposition, but the worst epithet hurled against 
it was that the teachers were “a set of German pro- 
fessional pedants.”” A similar conservatory was founded 
in Moscow by Nicholas Rubinstein, and to these two 
institutions much of the musical greatness of Russia 
to-day. is really due. 

Rubinstein’s own account of the difficulties he en- 
countered in establishing the conservatory makes very 
interesting reading. In the first place the instruction 
was to be given in Russian, and since there were almost 
no text books on music in that language, the teach- 
ers had to prepare their own works in some cases. 
Again, the school was regarded by many as a place 
where children unfit for anything else might be trained. 
Repeatedly mothers came with feeble-minded sons, 
convinced that they might do something in music de- 
spite their lack of intelligence. 


RUBINSTEIN’S AMERICAN TOUR. 
Rubinstein was too much of an iconoclast to remain 


In 1867 


Seong at the head of a permanent institution. 


he left the conservatory through a disagreement with 
the professors, owing as, he admits, to his hasty tem- 
per. In 1872, together with Henri Wieniawski, Rubin- 
stein arranged to tour America, receiving two hundred 
thousand francs. He appeared two hundred and fifteen 
times, giving two and three concerts in the same cities 
on one day. No wonder that he declared that “it be- 
came so tedious that I began to despise myself,” and 
refused to accept an offer of one half a million made 
to him later. He admitted, however, that the receipts 
from his American tour laid the foundation of his 


prosperity. In 1865 Rubinstein married Mmle. Viere 
Tchekuanoy. He had three children, Jacob, Anna and 
Alexander. In 1887 Rubinstein resumed management 


of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, advocating wide- 
spread plans for the spread of musical learning in 
Russia. In 1889 Rubinstein celebrated his jubilee and 
published his autobiography. He died November 20, 
1894, at Peterhof. 


RUBINSTEIN’S APPEARANCE. 


Rubinstein’s appearance was very striking. His hair was 
very thick and he never affected a beard or moustache. One 
critic said of him, *“‘He has the head of an inspired sphinx, 
upon whose face not even the paroxysms of enthusiasm 
call forth a smile. Did not the color of life illumine it, 
it might be of stone.’ Dr. Hugo Reimann’ said of him, 
‘Rubinstein’s gloomy countenance, seldom lighted by a 
smile, was not a mask, but the natural expression of the 
attuning of his soul, and when he mourned or grieved at the 
piano it was not merely artistic expression, but dead 
earnest.” 


RUBINSTEIN AS A PIANIST. 


During his lifetime Rubinstein was so great that his 
playing was never compared with that of any other 
pianist but the great Liszt. Indeed, there are those who 
contend that in many ways he was even greater than 
Liszt. His technic was incomparable and his interpre- 
tations were characterized by emotional and brilliant at- 
tributes which few have ever equaled. It was said of him 
that “he composed each piece as he played it.’ In 
his youth his memory was remarkably fine, and he 
apparently knew the entire literature of the instrument 
“by heart.” However, in later years he complained of 
lapses, and it is a fact that his recitals were often 
marked by wild irregularities which his friends attri- 
buted to failing memory. Eduard Hanslick said of 
his playing, “It is a delight to listen to him, in the 
highest and most sincere sense of the word. The 
merits of Rubinstein’s playing are sought principally 
in his elementary powers, and from the same source 
spring likewise many of his faults. Rubinstein’s tem- 
perament is of such compelling force that exhausted 
Europe yields submissively to his will.” 


RUBINSTEIN AS A COMPOSER. 


Great as was Rubinstein’s fame as a virtuoso, it was 
not as a virtuoso that he wished to be known to pos- 
terity, but as a composer. It is difficult to reach a 
right appreciation of his works because of the fact 
that they have been judged by the works of modern 
Russian composers who have written in a totally dif- 
ferent and much more rugged style. By many he has 
been likened to Mendelssohn and indeed the compari- 
son is not an inappropriate one, although he failed to 
produce works which have had the comprehensive 
grasp upon the musical public that have marked the 
compositions of Mendelssohn. His Ocean Symphony 
has been widely played, and is one of the most impres- 
sive of his compositions. His operatic works are 
little known outside of kussia, and only a very few 
of his numerous compositions for piano are played at 
this day. His works to which opus numbers have been 
given include one hundred and nineteen compositions. 
He has been widely criticized for his failure to write 
less and produce compositions marked by more labor. 
more careful revision. He cultivated an acid hatred 
for the works of the “ultra” composers of his time. 
particularly Wagner. Rubinstein produced seven Rus- 
sian operas (The Demon and others), six German 
operas (Nero, The Maccabees, Feramoors, etc.) and 
five “sacred operas” (Paradise Lost, The Tower of 
Babel, Moses, etc.). He also wrote cantatas, an or- 
chestral suite, concert overtures, six symphonies, a vio- 
lin concerto, two ’cello concertos, five pianoforte con- 
certos, quartets, quintets, an octet, a sextet, much cham- 
ber music, numerous excellent pianoforte pieces and one 
hundred songs, some of which are models of the beau- 
tiful in the art sorz. His D-minor Concerto is one 
of the greatest compositions for the pianoforte. 


48 


RUBINSTEIN .WHEN HE WAS AMAZING EUROPE AS A 
CHILD PRODIGY. 


RUBINSTEIN’S AMBITION. 

Rubinstein’s ambition was more far-reaching than his 
natural gifts. A master pianist from his childhood and 
vested with unquestioned gifts as a composer, he thought 
of himself as another Liszt, Wagner and Beethoven 
:combined. As a conductor he was very talented and 
he made numerous attempts to essay Wagner’s role 
as a writer upon musical subjects. His autobiography, 
which is now difficult to obtain, is very well done in 
many ways but fearfully meager in others. Although 
many of his compositions had a wide appeal and were 
singularly pleasing, it is as a pianist that he will be re- 


membered. . 

A RUBINSTEIN PROGRAM. GRADE 
1, ARTANO} SOLO) so ee nee Duet, Trot de Cavalerie 4 
2: PIANO SOLO; sie ece ee eee Bohéme Polka 4 
3, | MOGALEDURD Ss quae The Wanderer's Night Song 4 
4 VIGLing SOlOs same Melody in F (arr. by Hahn) 4 
5 PLANGy SOLOS sees Valse Caprice in E-flat 6 
6 Prano Soto.....Le Bal (Polka, Opus 14, No. 6) 6 
7 Piano Soro...Marche a la Turque (Beethoven) 7 
8 . PEANO: SOLO; one tee Etude on False Notes 10 
9) PIANO. SOLO seen: Romance, Opus 44, No. 1. 4 
LOR VioCAL) SOLOse eer Thou art so like a Flower 5 
Lh> PLANO SOLOnsee hee eee Kamenoi Ostrow 7 


12) Mixep Cuorus.Throwgh Earth and Heaven 


Sighing 4 
BOOKS ON RUBINSTEIN. 

Autobiography of Anton Rubinstein, translated by Aline 
Dalano. A Conversation on Music, by Rubinstein, translated 
by Mrs. J. P. Morgan. Guide to the Proper Use of the 
Pianoforte Pedals, with Bxamples from the Historical Con- 
corts of Rubinstein, translated by John A. Preston. Anton 
Rubinstein, a biographical sketch by Alexander MacArthur. 
The following in German: Anton Rubinstein, Bioyraphischer 
Abriss nebst Charakteristik seiner Werke, by Bernhard 
Dobe Anton Rubinstein ein Kunstler Leben, by Bugen 
Zabel. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

When did the new spirit of reform arise in Russia? 
When and where was Rubinstein born? 
Who were Rubinstein’s teachers? 
Tell something of Rubinstein as a child planist. 
Give some facts relating to Rubinstein’s friendships. 
When did Rubinstein found the St. Petersburg Con- 
servatory? 

?. When did Rubinstein visit America? 

8. Tell something of Rubinstein as a composer. 

9. Describe Rubinstein’s appearance, 

10. When did Rubinstein die? 


ae 


\\ 


EF 
A i 


\ 


Qu 


SILHOUETTE OF RUBINSTEIN AT THE KEYBOARD, 


(A CT 


| 


—S 


f 
rp 
Y A 
: 


UT 


— 


— 


THE PERIOD OF SAINT-SAENS, 


_ Ir may seem unnecessary to refer to the period 
of a composer who has been a contemporary of 
many who will now read about him, but the 
France of 1835 was a country so markedly dif- 
ferent from that of the new world that it is 
profitable to recollect something of the condi- 
tions of the native land of Saint-Saéns during the 
composer’s youth. Born under monarchial rule he was 
nevertheless surrounded by a people determined upon 
a more liberal form of government. Republicanism and 
Socialism, silent at first. became more and more 
ominous. Only the horrors of a Reign of Terror 
kept the country from constant open protest. The 
revolution of 1830 afforded but temporary relief from 
the injustices which the people felt that Charles X had 
imposed upon them. But even the coronation of a 
new king, Louis Philippe, failed to make monarchial 
conditions permanent in France. The revolution of 
1848 placed the weak but clever Louis Napoleon in 
the office of President of a new Republic of France. 
Emulating his famous uncle, Bonaparte, he soon man- 
aged to overthrow the republic and place himself in 
the throne as Napoleon III. Despotism, gloved but 
cruel, marked the second Empire. Again War became 
the weapon of the politicians and the Crimean and the 
Italian conflicts drained France of some of its best 
blood. The Franco-Prussian fight cost the country mil- 
lions in money and much precious territory. Finally 
in 1870 a new Republic was proclaimed. Intellectually 
France was stimulated by these continual governmental 
disturbances and the feeling of unrest is noticeable in 
the works of many of the French writers and com- 
posers of the time. This is shown in the writings of 
Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Gautier, de Musset, Mau- 
passant, Zola, and even Hugo and Balzac. French 
music, however, if we except Berlioz and the ultra mod- 
ern composers of to-day, has not been especially revo- 
lutionary. The music of Saint-Saéns is significantly 
sane and attributes much of its beauty to the highly 
developed taste and technic of the composer. 


SAINT-SAENS’ ANCESTORS AND BIRTH. 


Saint-Saéns was born in Paris October 9th, 1835. He 
is said to be of Jewish extraction, although much of 
his finest work has been done for the Church of Rome. 
His father was an attaché of the French government. 
His maternal grandfather had been a manufacturer of 
reed organs. Unfortunately he died when the child 
was little more than an infant. Accordingly the great 
French composer was brought up by his mother and 
great-aunt. The mother had decided artistic inclina- 
tions and was known to a small circle as an excellent 
painter. The great-aunt, however, was an accomplished 
and enthusiastic musician who took immense interest 
in her little nephew. At the age of two.and one-half 
years she commenced to teach the little tot piano, and 
at the age of five it is said’ that he was able to decipher 
‘part of a score of Gretry and at seven the orchestral 
score of Mozart’s Don Juan was presented to him be- 
‘cause he proved that he was able to play parts of it 
at sight. His mother and his aunt were almost beyond 
‘themselves with delight and immediately set about to 
find a proper teacher. Finally they induced the popular 
virtuoso Stamaty to take the boy. 

~ Camille Marie Stamaty was the son of a Greek 
father and a French mother. He was born in Rome and 
Was a little over thirty years 
of age when Saint-Saéns was 
brought to him. Although a 
‘pupil of Kalkbrenner and 
Saturated in the atmosphere 
of Paris, Stamaty was de- 
voted to the works of Ger- 
man masters, particularly 
Bach. When  Saint-Saéns 
went to him he had recently 
returned from a sojourn. in 
Leipsic, where he had the 


af 


ae 


Aged 30. 


5 S KS) a 
STM Mh MT 


“Music Is As Old As Humanity.” 


benefit of instruction under no less than Mendéls- 
sohn. Filled with new ideas he communicated these 
to the boy and they were greedily welcomed. Saint- 
Saéns’ teacher in theory was Maleden. The boy de- 
lighted in improvising and his friends would sit by 
the hour while he played. Gifted with an exceptional 
memory his progress was exceptionally rapid. At the 
age of six and one-half years he gave his first public 
concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. The tiny virtuoso 
played a program upon which the works of the fol- 
lowing composers were represented: Mozart, Bach, 
Beethoven and Handel. 

After his preliminary studies Saint-Saéns entered the 
Conservatory, studying composition under Halévy and 
organ under Benoit. In 1849 he obtained the second 
prize in organ playing and the first prize in 
1851. Singularly enough he was altogether unsuccess- 
ful in winning the Prix de Rome, the most coveted 
academic reward of the French music student. His 
first attempt was in 1852 when he was defeated by 
Léonce Cohen and again in 1864 when he was defeated 
by a student named Sieg. Since neither of these musi- 
cians are conspicuous for their great attainments it 
would seem that the examiners had made a serious 
error in judgment. One remarkable instance was that 
Berlioz voted against Saint-Saéns, declaring “He knows 
almost everything but he has no talent for melody.” 


SAINT-SAENS’ EARLY WORK. 


The early works of Saint-Saéns seemed to have as- 
tonished all critics except those at the “conservative 
conservatoire.” His first compositions were three 
pieces for the reed organ, published in 1852. Saint- 
Saéns had possessed a reed organ in his early youth 
and is said to have had so much pleasure from it that 


Aged 34. 


Aged 32, 


49 


y 


HUCUTGHAURDOGRLOUUDORADANDAAOAONINRETS 


Sc 


Ve RD Ree, A ¢ 
as 


a, 
—_—e 


he keeps the wheezy little instrument to this day. 
His symphony, played at an important concert in 
1853, attracted much favorable comment. In the 
same year he was appointed organist at the 
Church of Saint-Merry in Paris, where the great 
) improvement in the service attracted the serious 

attention of many lovers of fine church music. 
Accordingly he was appointed organist at the famous 
Paris church, La Madeleine, as the successor of Lefé- 
bure-Wely, the composer of the ever-popular “Monas- 
tery Bells’ (1858). Saint-Saéns retained this position 
for nineteen years, bringing great reputation to the 
musical services of the church. 

In 1861 Saint-Saéns arranged to take charge of the 
piano classes at the Neidermeyer Ecole Religieuse. 
While there many noted musicians studied. under him, 
including the French composer, Gabriel Faure. 

Saint-Saéns’ musical fecundity was encouraged by his 
fortunate environment. Among his friends were no less 
than Rubinstein, Liszt and Berlioz, all of whom con- 
tinually encouraged him. In 1868 he commenced to 
outline his famous work, Samson et Dalila, which at 
that time partook of the nature of an oratorio rather 
than that of an opera. The work was completed in 
1877, largely at the instigation of Franz Liszt, who ad- 
mired it greatly. It was given for the first time at 
Weimar, under the direction of Liszt, in 1877. It was 
not given in France until 1890 (Rouen) and it was not 
accepted for production at the Grand Opera in Paris 
until sixteen years after its German production, 


SAINT-SAENS’ ARTISTIC PATRIOTISM. 


Saint-Saéns was the prime mover in the organization 
of a society for the promotion of “French music 
(Sociéte Nationale de Musique), which he formed in 
1871. Gradually, however, the society became more and 
more under the influence of the disciples of César 
Franck, and when in 1886 M. Vincent d’Indy succeeded 
in having a resolution passed permitting the introduc- 
tion of works of the great classical masters and foreign 
composers upon the programs of the society, M. Saint- 
Saéns resigned with the contention that this violated 
the original purpose of the society. 


AN IMPORTANT SERIES. 


Following the lead of Liszt, Saint-Saens decided to 
write a series of works modeled after the Symphonic 
Poems of Franz Liszt. The result was Le Rouet 
d’Omphale (‘The Spinning Wheel,” written in 1871) ; 
Phaeton (written in 1873), La Danse Macabre (written 
in 1874), La Jeunesse d’ Hercule (written in 1877). 
With the possible exception of Richard Strauss none 
has carried the form established by Franz Liszt to a 
higher degree of musical beauty and effectiveness. 
These symphonic poems are at once among the most 
charming of Saint-Saéns’ compositions and perhaps ex- 
hibit his versatility in different styles more than any- 
thing else, for the delicate, undulating movement 
of The Spinning Wheel is surely the opposite extreme 
from the weird Dance of Death.” 


A REMARKABLE LIFE EXPERIENCE. 


On June 2nd, 1896, Saint-Saens celebrated his fiftieth 
anniversary of his first appearance as a performer. At 
the present time, nearly eighteen years thereafter, we find 
him making plans for performances of his works in 
Egypt, Portugal, Spain, Hol- 
land. With other composers 
it is possible to point out 
some memorable tournees— 
events of a lifetime, but with 
Saint-Saéns this is almost 
out of the question as he has 
kept continually moving from 
place to place, here as a con- 
ductor, there as an essayist, 
here as a pianist, there as an 
organist, 


SAINT-SAENS AS A BOY. 


SAINT-SAENS’ WONDERFUL VERSATILITY. 


Pierre Lalo, the composer and intimate of Saint- 
Saéns, points out that Saint-Saéns’ versatility is not con- 
fined to his music. He compares his work with that 
of Michael Angelo and Leonardo da Vinci, for, “has 
he not been, with somewhat unequal success, a poet, 
a dramatist, a mathematician, a naturalist a philoso- 
pher, a critic and a musician?” It is also known that 
Saint-Saéns is excellently versed in astronomy. But 
his musical versatility alone would be quite sufficient 
‘to attract attention when it is remembered that many 
of his famous compatriots are celebrated for their 
operas and for nothing else. His piano compositions, 
his vocal works, his symphonies, chamber music, con- 
certos for many different instruments, his oratorios and 
his cantatas are all quite as celebrated as his most 
famous opera, Samson and Dalila, Not content with 
original works he has developed some excellent tran- 
scriptions, such as his famous arrangement of the 
Andante from the “Surprise Symphony” of Haydn, and 
the Gavotte from Bach’s sixth violin Sonata. 


SAINT-SAENS AS A CRITIC. 


Precisely as the musical works of Saint-Saéns are 
marked by their splendid finish and craftsmanship, so 
are his critical labors altogether unusual for the ex- 
cellence of his judgment and his sane view of condi- 
tions surrounding him. Very few noted musicians have 
written with less bias and very few have his great 
fluency. In 1870, after the war that left France im- 
poverished in almost everything but brains and loyalty 
to the tri-color, Saint-Saéns entered musical journalism 


with the purpose of stimulating new growth in French. 


music. His influence has 
been very powerful. 
Many of his great ar- 
ticles appeared in la 
Renaissance Littéraire et 
Artistique, in which he 
modestly gave his views 
under a nom de plume. 
Later his articles on the 
original performances of 
the Ring at Bayreuth 
aroused great interest in 
France. In fact, with 
the exception of Wag- 


ner, Berlioz and Schu- 
mann, the writings of 
Saint-Saéns are more 
voluminous than those 
of any other famous 
composer. His pub- 
lished works cover all SAINT-SAENS AT 40, 


manner of subjects from 

Hypnotism and Religion to the Phenomenon of the 
Mirage. His comedy in four acts and five tableaux, Le 
Roi Apépi, was given with success in 1903. He has also 
written some very fascinating verse. In fact, this man 
whom Wagner is said to have called “the greatest living 
French composer” might easily be termed “the greatest 
French music critic.” 


SAINT-SAENS AS A PIANIST AND AS AN ORGANIST. 


Saint-Saéns’ playing of the pianoforte has always at- 
tracted widé attention. In addition to a very unusual 
technic he always played in such an interesting manner 


that those who heard him were under the spell of 
believing that he was composing as he went along. 
-Liszt admired his playing greatly. It is reported that 
Saint-Saéns once amazed a large audience of noted music 
lovers at Bayreuth by playing parts of the score of 
Parsifal and the Ring at sight in a most finished 
manner. His organ playing was unusual, as 
might be expected in the case of a man with such an 
all-comprehensive intellect, but it was his improvising 
at the organ which drew hundreds to hear him. His 
American tours have been exceptionally successful. 
In fact, his playing when well past the age of seventy 
amazed every hearer by its great suppleness and sure- 
ness, always marked with exquisite musical taste. His 
memory is prodigious, 

It would be a mistake to consider him as a pianist 
apart from his exceptionally fine compositions for 
piano, notably his concertos, which rank with the great- 
est works of their kind. Almost every concert pianist 
carries the Opus 22—the Second Concerto in G minor 


—in his repertoire. Among Saint-Saéns’ pianoforte 
pupils is Leopold Godowsky. Saint-Saéns lias paid two 
noteworthy visits to America, 


SAINT-SAENS AS A COMPOSER. 


A French catalogue of Saint-Saéns’ works devotes 
ten pages of fine print to a record of them. His most 
popular pianoforte compositions are doubtless his Ma- 
zurkas and his Etudes. His versatility has also led him 
to write duets and two piano pieces, to say nothing 


SAINT-SAENS’ MOTHER, 


Saint-Saéns, like Gounod, always gave 
great credit to his mother for his early 
progress in music. Up to the time of her 
death he was devotedly attached to her. 


of a few compositions for the harmonium or reed 
organ. He was always greatly interested in the pro- 
motion of chamber music in Paris, and wrote for many 
different combinations of instruments. Among these 
compositions may be mentioned his Le Cygne (The 
Swan), originally written for violoncello and piano, 
but frequently played as a violin solo—is one of the 
most popular of all his works. No one will dispute, 
however, that Saint-Saéns’ best works are those for the 
orchestra, where his classical training is intermingled 
with his progressive tendencies and his remarkable 
flexible technical skill in instrumentation is exhibited. 
His symphonies and his symphonic poems are frequently 
played. He has even written music for military band 
which has met with much favor in France. Of his 
long list of songs for voice and piano there is none 
which equals in popularity his aria from Samson et 
Dalila (Mon coeur), Of his numerous choral works 
Le Deluge is of outstanding merit. His music for the 
stage includes ballets, operettas, incidental music, 
operas, etc. His best known operas are Samson et 
Dalila, Le Timbre d Argent, Etienne Marcel, Henry 
VII, Properine, Ascanio, Fregegonde Dejaanire, Les 
Barbares, Parysatis, Héléne, L’Ancetre. He has also 
found time to make many transcriptions and has edited 
important works of Charpentier (not the composer of 


Lowise but an early French composer whose composi- ° 


tions deserve to be better known), as well as a com- 
plete edition of the works of the great French master, 
Jean Philippe Rameau. 

50 


UNUSUAL DISTINCTIONS. 


Few men have been as fortunate as Saint-Saéns in 
witnessing the success of labors well planned and faith- 
fully executed. In 1896 Saint-Saéns celebrated the 
fiftieth anniversary of his first appearance as an artist. 
He was given the “Salle Pleyel,” the same room in which 
his debut occurred for the momentous occasion. The 
sale of seats amounted to $2,500.00, although there were 
but six hundred persons attending the concert. As 
long ago as 1881 he was elected a member of the 
Academie of Fine Arts. He has also been made a 
member of the Royal Academies of Belgium, Prussia, 
Sweden, Greece and Spain. Cambridge University 
gave him the degree of Doctor of Music in 1893. In 
1897 Saint-Saéns gave many interesting mementos of 
his long and active career to the city of Dieppe, France, 
where the composer had spent many happy hours. This 
was the basis of a Saint-Saéns Museum which was 
opened shortly thereafter. Statues have been erected 
to him and avenues have been named after him 
Thus, the incumbrances of fame which usually are 
heaped upon a man’s career after his death, have all 
been showered upon Saint-Saéns during his lifetime. . 


SAINT-SAENS ON THE MAKING OF MELODIES. _ 


: 

“There are those who try to disseminate the idea that 
harmony is exclusively the product of reflection, of 
science, and that inspiration is not needed for it. How 
do they explain the fact, then, that the geniuses who 
invent such beautiful melodies are alone and exclusively 
good harmonists? Why has not any learned schoolmas- 
ter been able to write, for instance, the Oro Supplex 
from Mozart's Requiem which formally represents 
merely a succession of chords. ; 


A SAINT-SAENS PROGRAM. 


Grade 
1. Piano Solo—Andante, from Haydn’s Sur- ee 
prise Symphony. 
2. Vocal Solo—Mon Coeur, from Samson and 
Dalila. 
3. Violin Solo—Le Cygne (The Swan). 
4. Piano Solo—Minuet. 
5. Male Chorus—The Mariners of Kermor, or 
Piano Solo—First Mazurka, Opus 21. 
6. Piano Solo—Etude, Opus 52, No. 3. 
7. Piano Solo—Romance Sans Paroles. 
8. Vocal Solo—The Bell. 
9. Violin Solo—Jntroduction and Cappricioso. 
0. Piano Solo—Romance Sans Paroles, or 
Mixed Chorus—The Celestial Sabbath, or 
Piano Duet—March from Algerian Suite. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

_ 1. Tell something of the conditions in France about the 
time of the birth of Saint-Saéns. 
When was Saint-Saéns born? 

3. Were his ancestors artistic? 

4. Who were the early teachers of Saint-Saéns? 

5. What did Berlioz say about Saint-Saéns? 

6. At what famous church in Paris was Saint-Saéns 
organist? 

7. Tell something of Saint-Saéns’ remarkable versatility, 

8. What piano composition of Saint-Saéns ts carried in 
the repertoire of concert pianists? ¢ 

- What is Saint-Saéns’ best known work for the stage? 
Se ene 

i hat unusual distinctior i - 
Seas ction has been given to Saint 


UAUNMNAUMNIITIAH ANP on 


to 


SAINT-SAENS WHEN A YOUTH, 


ale ee 


tire 


SCHUBERT’S PERIOD. 


Austria, forever the bridge between occidental 
and oriental civilization, has been the country 
traversed by so many of the great composers, that 
it is hallowed to all musicians. Possibly the most 
dramatic period of the land of Schubert was that 
when Francis IJ, Emperor of Germany, King of 
Hungary, King of Bohemia and later, by his own 
defeats, Emperor Francis I of Austria, ruled over the 
country, 

At that time (1769) the borders of the country were 
turned into miles of battlefields. The emperor was 
afflicted with constant sorrows. The fate of his aunt, 
Marie Antoinette, wife of that feeblest of monarchs, 
Louis XVI, was hardly more tragic than that of the 
emperor’s own daughter, Maria Louisa. When the fair 
Maria became the compulsory bride of the unrelenting 
Napoleon, her father never realized that he would 
shortly be obliged to become the military opponent of 
his son-in-law. The death of L’Aiglon, the duc de 
Reichstadt, the pathetic offspring of that unfortunate 
union, drew the curtain upon one of the great tragedies 
of the early nineteenth century. All these events natur- 
ally affected the emotional lives of the people who had 
harbored a Beethoven, produced a Haydn, a Mozart and 
a Schubert. The wonderful part of it all is that the 
pomp and circumstance, the brilliant Viennese splendor 
of Francis, Luried under his crushing downfall at 
Austerlitz, is now securely sealed in the unsparing mau- 
soleums of history, while the living art of poor, pau- 
pered Schubert makes new victories every day. 


SCHUBERT’S ANCESTRY. 


Schubert’s father, Franz Schubert, was a Moravian of 
peasant parentage. He was a man of fine moral character 
and no small capacity. Through the influence of bis brother 
he studied with the view of becoming a teacher, and from 
1786 to 1817 he was the parish school master in the school 
cf the Twelve Holy Helpers in the Lichtenthal district of 
Vienna. About 1873 he married Elizabeth Vitz, a domestic 
servant, then employed as a cook in a Viennese family. She 
became the mother of fourteen children, one of whom was 
the immortal Franz. After her death in 1812, Schubert's 
father married Anna Klayenbék, who became the mother of 
five children, one of whom, ‘Father Hermann,” was a noted 
priest. Of Franz’ real brothers, Ignaz (thirteen years his 


senior), and Ferdinand (three years his senior), both became 


highly respected school teachers. Both of the sons, like the 
father, were musical and had a part in Schubert’s training. 
Ferdinand was more musical than Ignaz; that is, he devoted 
more time to musical composition, producing among other 
things, two requiems. 


SCHUBERT’S BIRTHPLACE. 


In the “Courtyard of Heaven,” in old Vienna, there stood 
a plain two-story building in which 
Franz Peter Schubert was born, January 
Bist, 1797. Later the Viennese changed 
the name of the street from Himmel- 
pfortgrund to Himmelspfortgasse (the 
road to the gate of Heaven). ‘The only 
suggestion of the sublime that surrounds 
the prosiac old district now is that 
which the beloved genius of Schubert 
brought to it. The brilliance and wealth, 
the architectural and civic splendor of 
the beart of the Austrian metropolis is 
strangely contrasted with the uninviting 
groups of houses located only a few 
blocks away. However, the environs of 
the city are adorned with so many build- 
ings of historical importance in music 
that their plainness is forgotten because 
cf the memories that surround them. 


SCHUBERT’S EARLY TRAINING. 


In his early years Franz’s leading 
teachers were his father and_ his 
brothers, Ignaz and _ Ferdinand. 
Next he came under the tuition of 
Michael Holzer, the parish choirmas- 
ter, who taught him theory, piano, 
violin, singing and organ. The boy 
soon outstripped the instruction of 
both his brothers and his teacher. 
When he was eleven his sweet so- 
prano yoice secured him the place of 
leading soprano soloist in the Lichten- 


EN ead 


2 . ye a ) 
ag Summ Tec ITT TTT TTC 
bl r 


TM 


OUVEETAUOGRUEGQGUAAGORUAATOOREGHOGULGQUINCVOGNONUVONGDENOGHOONEOOIVNGONOUUODONQQONORUGRNNBUATOUQUUGHGOTOV#QUUU0GQHQNNOUANGUUUUG 


1797—The Real Schubert—1828 


RS Se ery [ees 
SS ee AS 


“Music hath entombed here a rich treasure, but 
still fairer hopes.” 


thal choir. His occasional violin solos during the services 
and the little compositions he produced at home aroused 
wide attention and he became a student in the school pro- 


’ vided for the education of the Imperial choristers in the 


Royal Chapel. This school was known as a Convict. 
There, under the somewhat irregular direction of Salieri, 
Eybler and Korner, the little musician continued his 
musical education. There was a boys’ orchestra which 
could play some of the symphonic works of Haydn, Mo- 
zart, Cherubini, and even some of those of the great 
Beethoven, the iconoclast of that day. The leader of 
the orchestra was a boy named Spaun, who formed a 
close friendship for Schubert and was able to help him 
in many ways. Indeed, he was the first to discover that 
Schubert was hampered in his prolific juvenile output 
of musical compositions by lack of means to secure 
enough paper to accommodate his notes. Spaun pro- 


vided the paper and won the little Schubert’s everlasting 
gratitude. 


SCHUBERT PLAYING FOR HIS FRIENDS. 


51 


OTT oo 


Lc 


th 
> 
2 ou oe? 


NUH 
SCHUBERT’S FIRST COMPOSITIONS. 


Later Franz became the first violin in the orchestra, 
and this, together with his practice at home in quar- 
tets with his musical family, gave him splendid op- 
portunities for becoming acquainted with the best 
music of his time. At the Convict he also received 
instruction in history, poetry, drawing, Italian, French, 
writing, geography and mathematics, but his interest 
in musie outweighed his interest in his general stud- 
ies, and his musical powers were so manifest that 
the school authorities made little attempt to remedy this 
neglect. 

His first work of more than passing importance was a 
piano Fantasia for four hands. It covered thirty-two pages 
of finely written manuscript, had over a dozen movements 
and bore the date of 1810. The next two juvenile composi- 
tions indicate a rather morbid tendency, since the first was 
a lengthy yocal work for piano and voice entitled Hagar’s 
Lament Over Her Dying Son, and the next, a song entitled 
Corpse Fantasia, set to words of Schiller. These were fol- 
lowed by another work which bore no less a title than The 
Father Murderer (Der Vatermérder). Schubert left the Con- 
vict in 1813 after five years of deprivation,: difficult for the 
students in this age to understand. The general impression 
of all those who have reviewed his life with more or less 
critical care is that his technical musical instruction was 
neglected by thoroughly well-meaning teachers who construed 
his capacity and evidences of ability as indications of a 
kind of natural craftsmanship that did not demand outside 
instruction. This was altogether regretable, since with a 
better technic it is probable that many of Schubert’s' dis- 
carded works could have been preserved by the master. 


SCHUBERT AS A YOUNG MAN. 


One could not live in the Vienna of Schubert’s day 
without becoming saturated with music. Schubert’s fa- 
vorite composer at the time was Mozart, whom he 
apostrophised thus, “Mozart, O Mozart, what countless 
consolatory images of a bright, better world hast thou 
stamped on our souls.” 

After having been threatened with conscription in the 
army no less than three times Schubert managed to 
evade military service by entering his father’s school 
as a teacher. Here the great master of the future spent 
three years teaching children in the lowest grade. 
Withal, he made a systematic regular teacher and com- 
plained little of what many others might have found 
extremely distasteful. 

When not yet eighteen Schubert wrote his Mass in 
F. This work while not comparable: with some of his 
later compositions was an exceptional example of musi- 
cal precocity which Sir George Grove ranks with 
Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night's Dream Overture. In 
1814 he wrote an opera comique entitled Des Teufels 
Lustschloss. This work was never produced. Schubert 
was now commencing to compose with the remarkable 
rapidity that amazed all who knew him. He worked 
regularly many hours each day and as soon as one com- 
position was finished he would fly 
to the next before the ink was dry 
upon the first. Melodic inventive- 
ness never seemed to forsake him, 
although he often failed to identify 
his own compositions after they had 
been written. Doubtless, the world 
has never known a more _ pro- 
nounced instance of genuine inspi- 
ration—that is the production of 
art works without conscious effort 
or the employment of mechanical 
contrivances of style to eke out 
feeble ideas. Schubert was a treas- 
ure house of tonal thoughts. His 
greatest difficulty was that of get- 
ting them down upon paper quick 
enough to make way for the next. 


A FRIEND IN NEED. 

Again, a. friend came to the help 
of Schubert in the person of Franz 
von Schober, who actually hunted 
Schubert out in the home of his 
father and insisted that he abandon 
his school work and take up a res'- 
dence with his friend in Vienna 
where he might have leisure for com 
posing. Apparently, Schubert was for 


SCHUBERT WRITING “HARK, HARK THE LARK.” 


the time being supported by the generosity of his friend. 
This brought Schubert into a new world—the world of 
art, literature, philosophy and gaiety—the Vienna of 
society, light, and poetic progress. Schubert, however, 
showed his peasant origin by his inability to affect the 
superficialities of this more or less artificial life. Stimu- 
lating as it was to him—he was so modest, so retiring 
that he remained apart as an observer rather than tread- 
ing upon the stage as an actor. He had a high regard 
for his real friends and made confidants of them, but 
he was too true to himself to toady to others for his 
personal gain. Von Schober introduced him to the fa- 
mous tenor, Mischel Vogl, who did much to advance 
Schubert’s art-work by singing his songs and by intro- 
ducing him to influential people. 


THE ROMANCE OF “THE ERLKING.” 


Although Schubert was still a very young man when he 
wrote The Hriking, he had already written numerous excel- 
lent compositions. It was The Erlking, however, that 
brought his works to the wider attention of the musical 
public. The Erlking was written in 1815 in its original 
form. Schubert was then eighteen years of age. Spaun, 
Schubert's friend in the Convict, found the composer in his 
room one winter day reading Goethe’s famous poem with 
intense excitement. The melody was written as fast as his 
fingers would fly, although more time was taken in filling in 
the accompaniment. It was sung on the same evening at 
the Convict school, and was not received with great enthu- 
siasm because it evaded too many of the conventional rules 
that the preceptors in that institution had laid down. The 
song was given many private hearings among Schubert's 
friends. All publishers, however, refused to have anything 
to do with it, and with Schubert’s other manuscripts, prin- 
cipally because the pianoforte accompaniments were ‘too 
difficult.” Accordingly Schubert’s friends undertook the mat- 
ter of having copies of The Erl King engraved at their own 
expense. One hundred copies were subscribed for. 

The song was first sung in public January 25th, 1821. 
Schubert played the accompaniments in person and the 
singer was Gymnich. It was sung again on March 25th of 
the same year by Vogl. It made a pronounced impression, 
and, indeed, led to the publication of a set of Erl King 
Valses rigidly denounced by Schubert and long since for- 
gotten, Schubert was now gradually acquiring an unsought 
but highly necessary fame. Publishers solicited his songs 
and other compositions, but at the same time strove to in- 
duce him to write trifling pieces, solely with a view to 
their commercial possibilities. 


SCHUBERT’S FECUNDITY. 
Vogl, Mayrhofer (a poet of sombre trend) and von 


Schober were ever ready to help the needy Schubert,’ 


who, like a wonderful plant, preferred to keep on blos- 
soming and blossoming 
without thought of pro- 
viding for himself. In- 
deed, “all = thats was 
needed to induce Schu- 
bert to write a song 
was the presence of 
an inspiring poetical 
thought. Once a friend 
met Schubert in a sum- 
mer garden and loaned 
him a copy of a trans- 
lation of Shakespeare's 
works. Schubert opened 
to Hark, Hark the Lark, and exclaimed that a wonder- 
ful melody had come into his head. The friend hastily 
scratched cat a few staves upon the back of the bill 
of fare and Schubert wrote then and there one of his 
loveliest songs. This anecdote is related by Schubert’s 
intimate friend, Doppler, who was present at the time. 


SCHUBERT'S BIRTHPLACE. 


SCHUBERT AT THE ESTERHAZY’S. 


In 1818 Schubert went to the home of the famous Ester- 
hazy family in Zselész. He taught all of the children, and, 
in fact, became kind of a musical attaché of the house. His 
monthly income was about forty dollars, but as he had his 
living in quarters finer than anything he had ever known, 
the opportunity was looked upon as exceedingly rare. It is 
assumed, however, that he preferred the friendship of his 
old cirele of admirers in Vienna despite the dilapidated room 
of his friend Mayrhofer with its worn-out piano, fallen 
ceiling, shabby furniture, etc, 


SCHUBERT’S DRAMATIC WORKS. 


Seven of Schubert’s seventeen dramatic works were 
performed, but none of them now survive in popular 
favor as pieces for the stage. Nine of the works were 
of a lighter order and fall in the class of operetta, song- 
play or even farce (such as Die Zwillingsbriider). The 
music to Madame von Chezy’s Rosamunde, however, is 
extremely fine and had the libretto been in any way 
comparable with it, the work might have remained on 
the boards to this day. The play was a tiresome spec- 
tacle, and though it met with favor at its first per- 
formance it dropped out of existence almost imme- 
diately. In fact, the manuscripts were tied’ up and laid 
aside as unimportant until rediscovered forty-four years 
later by Sir George Grove and Sir Arthur Sullivan 
while they were in Vienna. Practically all of Schubert’s 
librettos were worthless, and this accounts in a measure 
for the failure of his works to obtain longer theatrical 
life. 

SUCCESS AND FAILURE. 


In 1824 Schubert spent another summer at the country 
home of the Hsterhazys. He needed the rest and quiet of 
the trees and hills as he was wholly disheartened by the 
rejection of his two operas, Alfonso and Estrella and Fier- 
rabras, both of which suffered from inferior librettos. Some 
of his biographers insist that at this time he courted the 
attention of his pupil, Caroline HEsterhazy, but when we 
remember the great social chasm between the peasant-born 
composer and the count’s daughter, it seems hardly prob- 
able. The winter of 1825 was spent among his old friends 
in Vienna, and the following summer, in company with Vogl, 
he toured the Austrian highlands, reaching as far as Salz- 
burg and Linz, At this time he set parts of Sir Walter 


SCHUBERT COMPOSING THE MULLER LIEDER. 


Scott’s Lady of the Lake, including the exquisitely beautiful 
Ave Maria. The visit to upper Austria was a truly delight- 
ful one, since the master’s music had become very popular 
and the gentry of the country vied with each other for the 
privilege of entertaining him. 

In 1826 and 1827 no event of great importance to Schu- 
bert occurred other than the regular and increasing pop- 
ularity of his works. In 1827 Schubert paid two very 
dramatic visits to the dying Beethoven, who, after ignoring 
Schubert’s works all his life, suddenly awoke to their im- 
portance upon his deathbed, and declared that ‘Schubert 
has my soul.” Schubert was one of the torchbearers at 
Beethoven’s funeral. In 1827 he also made a visit to the 
Pachler family in Graz, Austria (Styria), and immensely 
enjoyed the liberty afforded him by freedom from care. 


SCHUBERT’S LAST YEAR. 

Schubert’s last year was one of the most productive. 
He had no premonition of death, and although he 
worked throughout the whole year as though each 
precious moment was his last, he enjoyed every minute 
hugely. He was made a member of the important 
Music Society of Vienna and enlarged his circle of 
acquaintances. Despite the fact that he wrote with great 
rapidity and that his compositions were frequently ac- 
cepted, he was paid trifling sums for most of them and 
his improvident method of living kept him on the door- 
step of poverty most of the time. Toward the end of 
1828 Schubert’s friends noticed that his health was fail- 
ing and attributed it to overwork or lack of the proper 
nourishment. In one of his last letters he begs his 
friend Schober for another work of James Fennimore 
Cooper to read, stating that he had read The Spy, The 
Pilot and The Pioneers. He took to his bed in the 


~ early part of November, and it soon became evident 


that his complaint was the deadly typhus fever. Toward 


52 


the last hour he was in a delirium, imagining that he 
was already dead. Shortly, he whispered, “Here, here 
is my end!” and breathed his last. 

His death occurred November 19, 1828. His brother 
Ferdinand had been faithful to the last. His father, 
who was still living and teaching, was prostrated with 
grief. Dressed like a hermit, after the manner of the 
times and crowned with laurel, he lay in his eternal 
peace. Can you see a little group of students clad in 
red cloaks bearing the body of the great man, garlanded 
with flowers, to his last resting place beside Beethoven 
in the little Garden of Peace? 

Most pitiful of all is the inventory of the earthly be- 
longings of the genius who gave so much beauty to the 
world. A few clothes, some worn-out furniture and a 
heap of old manuscripts, worth in all not more than ten 
or twelve dollars. On the monument above his grave 
is the notable epitaph by the poet Grillparzer, 


Music has buried here a rich treasure, 
But far more beautiful hopes. 


SCHUBERT’S APPEARANCE AND PERSONALITY. 


Schubert was very short in stature, his actual height 
being less than five feet and one inch. This made him 
appear somewhat insignificant, and many were disap- 
pointed when they saw him for the first time. His body 
was stocky and his fingers thick and short. His head 
was round and crowned with thick black hair. His eyes, 
invariably shielded by spectacles, were large and im- 
pressive while his nose was small, stumpy. In fact, his 
tightly curled hair and facial peculiarities are said to 
have given him the “appearance of a negro.” Franz 
Lachner, one of his friends, declared that Schubert 
looked “just like a cabman.” 


SCHUBERT AS A COMPOSER, 


Schubert’ was undoubtedly one of the most prolific com-~ 
posers who ever lived. He literally poured himself out in 
melody. But, like most creative artists who express them- 
selves indiscriminately, he did not always produce master- 
pieces or even near-masterpieces. In his moments of highest 
inspiration, however, he is unsurpassed. A full and com- 
plete list of all the music he ever wrote is impossible be- 
cause many of his manuscripts were lost. He is known, 
nevertheless, to have composed 18 dramatic works (includ- 
ing Alfonso and Estrella, Fierabras, Rosamunde, etc.); 7 
masses, an oratorio (The Song of Miriam) and other church 
music; cantatas and songs; 603 known songs (many others 
probably lost) ; 10 symphonies, of which No. 8 (the Unjin- 
ished) and No. 10 (the C@ major) are regarded as second 
only to the symphonies of Beethoven; 7 overtures, a violin 
concerto in D; the well-known Octet for strings, horn, bas- - 
soon and clarinet, two quintets, twenty string quartets, 2 
piano trios, 2 string trios, and other pieces for piano and 
violin; 20 sonatas, 4 impromptus, 6 Moments usicales, 
marches, waltzes, fantasias, etc., for piano solo, and similar 
compositions for four hands. It will be seen that he touched 


. practically every branch of musical composition, and he 


enriched everything he touched. ‘The world of music will 
never cease speculating on what Schubert might have pro- 
duced had his mind been more disciplined by the usages of 
musical composition, and on whether his free, untrammeled 
genius would have soared so high if he had received a fine 
musical training. Schubert was music incarnate. 


A SCHUBERT PROGRAM. Grade 


Piano Duet, Military March, Opus 51, No. 1.. 3 
Piano Soto, Impromptu, Opus 90, No. 2....... 6 
VocaL Soto, Morning Greeting.......... Rep oR ice)? 76 
ViotiIn Soto, Rosamund Airy (arranged by 
Frederic Franklin) 


Ne 


see pea aay tie ee ee 

Prano Soro, Er] King (arranged by Heller).... 5 

VocaL Solo, Hark, Hark, the Larkocs. aeeeeeeee 

Cuorus, God of Mercy (arranged by Bracket). 3 

Piano Soto, Moment Musicale, Opus 94, No. 3. 4 

Vocat Soto, Who ts Sylvia?......... 4 
Piano Soto, Serenade 

Heller) 4 

3 


Prano Duet, Marche Heroique, Opus 27, No. 1. 


teen eres 


SOPNDM 


— 


(arranged by Stephen 


— 
— 


BOOKS ABOUT SCHUBERT. 


When it is remembered that Schubert led a very quiet and 
retiring life it is somewhat surprising to note the number 
of books that have been written about him and his works. 
Many of the best works upon Schubert are in German, and 
recently a very exhaustive biographical study of him has 
been published in that language. Of the works in Hnglish 
the best-known are the excellent Diogra phy in the Grove 
Dictionary, written by Sir George Grove himself; Schubert, 
by H. F. Frost: Schubert, by L. G. Heinze; Schubert’s 
Songs, by A. J. Bache; Schubert, by Edmanstoune Duncan. 


AUTOGRAPH OF SCHUBERT’S “ERL KING.” 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


Give some facts regarding Schubert’s ancestry. 
When and where was Schubert born? 
Tell something of Schubert’s early education. 
How old was Schubert when he wrote his Mass in D? 
Name some favorite songs of Schubert. 
. What noted singer helped’ Schubert by introducing 
his songs? 
2 7. What was the famous family that became a patron of 
Schubert? 
8. What did Schubert do at the funeral of Beethoven? 
9. State some facts about Schubert as a composer? 
10. When and where did Sehubert die? 


PIB 


— oe -. Ss CCU 


boy, but Weber was unable to find time 


and in 1828, at the age of eighteen, he 


2 DATTTT CUTOUT TAA TTT TATU LU TTT 


Le 


my 


TOT TT 


Samm 


UA 


5 ; Js) 
OS Seaearz 
SCHUMANN’S PERIOD. 


Saxony, the land of Schumann’s birth, did 
not escape being one of the many theatres 
in which Napoleon chose to act his empire- 
making dramas. Indeed, in those days of 
belligerent spontaneous combustion, Saxony 
had its fair share of wars. But the Saxons were 
an extremely industrious, practical people, and with 
their common-sense way of looking at things did not 
forget to promote manufactures and commerce. Sax- 


ony became rich, Leipzig developed into one of the 


great marts of Germany, and Dresden, the capital, 
expressed the increasing wealth of the land through 
manifestations of higher culture. When Schumann 
was four years old, part of his fatherland was ceded 
to Prussia by right of war. Gradually the country lost 
its old-time identity as a fighting factor and eventually 
became a part of the German empire. Schumann, 
however, lived to see the wonderful expansion of intel- 
lectual and industrial effort in his native land. Phil- 
osopher and romanticist, he built his dream castles side 
by side with factories and storehouses. No composer 
with the possible exception of Wolf and Smetana lived 
so near. the border line of sanity and insanity. His indi- 
viduality was probably more strongly marked than that 
of any other master. That he was able to voice his 
extremely original ideas in an atmosphere tending 
toward the conventions of business indicates his 
unusual strength of character. 


SCHUMANN’S ANCESTRY. 


Schumann’s father, Freidrich A. G. Schumann, in addition 
to being a seller of books, also inspired to go down to fame 
as an author. He wrote some few volumes of short works. 
His own father had been a clergyman, and from him the 
son had acquired a liking for the beautiful things in liter- 
ature. Robert Schumann’s mother (born Schnabel) was 
the daughter of the town physician in Zeitz. No evidence 
of pronounced musical talent has been discovered in his 
geneology. } 


SCHUMANN’S BIRTHPLACE, 


Schumann was born June 8, 1810, at Zwickau in Saxony, 
where his father had a prosperous book business which 
lasted until 1840 under the firm name of Schumann Brothers. 
The whole surroundings of the great composer’s boyhood 
were intellectual, and unquestionably influenced his later 
life. At the age of fourteen we find him working on the 
text of a book known as “Gallery of Great Men.” Schu- 
mann was the youngest child of his family and became the 
favorite of all. 


SCHUMANN’S EARLY TRAINING. 


The devotion of Schumann’s mother for her boy 
stands out through the entire youth of the master. His 
every step was watched by her with love and wisdom. 
She saw the wisdom of letting him fashion his own 
distinctive career even when it meant 
a sacrifice of her own ideals and hopes. 

Schumann’s first teacher at the piano 
was J. G. Kuntzsch, organist at the 
Marienkirche in Zwickau. His prog- 
ress was so noticeable that after three 
years his teacher assured his mother 
that no further instruction was neces- 
sary—thenceforth the boy might con- 
tinue without a master. When Schu- 
mann was scarcely seven he commenced 
to compose. When eleven he appeared 
in public at an important concert and 
elected to play the piano. standing 
rather than sitting. His father planned 
to have C. M. von Weber teach the 


to carry out the plan. When the boy 
was nine he heard Ignaz Moscheles 
play and was deeply impressed. 

His general education was not neglected, 


left the gymnasium (Educational Insti- 
tute) to go to the University. At this 
time the boy’s pronounced talent 
seemed to be divided between philos- 
ophy, poetry and music. His favorite 
poets were Lord Byron, Jean Paul 


— 
i i 
ye. 


<7 TSS 


—) [~~ 
OMT het OTTO 


DDGGAVORDAVODEWDOANODODORRUGROLULAGUEQGIOOOUGURDANRUMNOONUBOONONTUTUORODORDDDRLDHONDAGDBONQNVONONDONUDODOOBbON00 0000000 


° 1810—The Real Schumann—1856 . 


Ges Dear y KS <r RSS = Sj CSRS 
AOE OSE BESTS ISS BLOGS 


“Talent labors, genius creates.” 


(Richter) and the lesser known Schulze and von 
Sonnenberg. Schumann entered the University as a 
student of law. His mother was determined that her 
son should not undertake an artistic career with its 
uncertainty and possible privations. Since his father 
had died, in 1826, the young man was obliged to look 
to his mother for advice. 

Schumann was averse to law as a means of earning 
his living, and the coarseness of the student life at the 
University affected his retiring, chaste nature very 
deeply. A meeting with Heine and with the widow of 
Jean Paul confirmed his natural inclinations toward the 
art life. At the University he did little but study piano 
in private. During all this time he was powerfully 
moved by the ultra-emotional writings of Jean Paul. 
Indeed he became at that early age exceedingly morose 
over the conditions under which he was obliged to live. 


SCHUMANN’S WONDERFUL LOVE STORY 
COMMENCES. 


During the same year that Schumann entered the 
University he met Clara Wieck, and then and there 


ROBERT SCHUMANN’S BIRTHPLACE. 


Do 


IA 
MOTT res 


ew = 


began one of the most lovely romances of 
all history. Not even Heloise and Abelard, 
nor Saint Cecilia and Valerianus, nor Dante 
and Beatrice, nor Robert Browning and Eliza- 
beth Barrett were more tender, more constant, 
J more beautiful. Schumann became the piano 
pupil of Frederick Wieck, who took a great interest in 
the young man until the father discovered some years 
later that Schumann had become a candidate for the 
hand of Clara Wieck (born Leipzig, 1819, died 1896, 
made her first appearance in public in 1828 at the age 
of nine). Although she was not beautiful she was a 
wonderfully attractive child, and her remarkable play- 
ing made her a great asset to her father. 

At last, 1829, Schumann, accompanied by a friend, 
went to the University of Heidelberg, where the pro- 
fessor of law was A. F. J. Thibaut, whose avocation 
was music. The step from the hustling commercial 
atmosphere of Leipzig to the dreamy poetical atmo- 
sphere of lovely Heidelberg had a very important bear- 
ing on his future. Schumann interested Thibaut im- 
mensely, and the old jurist advised the young man to 
abandon law for music. Schumann accordingly prac- 
ticed indefatigably. Sometimes he would sit at the 
keyboard for seven or eight hours during the day, and 
when he went for a journey he was always accom- 
panied by a dumb keyboard in the railway carriage. 
Indeed his desire to excel led him to make a mechan- 
ical contrivance to aid in developing his hand and arm 
muscles. The result was that in 1830 he became perma- 
nently injured through overpractice. The tendon of 
the third finger of his right hand was hopelessly weak- 
ened, and it soon became evident to Schumann that it 
would be necessary to abandon his career as a pianist 
and take up that of the composer. 

Meantime Schumann had succeeded in inducing 
Wieck to persuade his mother to permit him to go on 
with his musical career. Returning to Leipzig he lived 
in the home of his teacher until 1832, almost as one of 
the family. Heinrich Dorn became his teacher in com- 
position, and Schumann gratefully recognized his 
assistance in later years. At this time he had already 
commenced to produce compositions which were attract- 
ing wide attention. At twenty-two we find him engaged 
upon his first Symphony (G minor), which was per- 
formed shortly thereafter at a concert given by Clara 
Wieck. 

SCHUMANN THE JOURNALIST. 


Tt had been Schumann’s custom for some time to meet 
with a party of friends in a little inn called the “Kaffe- 
baum.” There the plan of starting a musical paper was 
evolved. At that time Germany had 
only one musical paper of note (Die 
‘Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung). Schu- 
mann and his friends felt the time had 
arrived for a new music journal of more 
independent character. Accordingly in 
1834 the Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik was 
founded in Leipzig with Schumann as 
editor. 'For many years this journal 
continued as one of the most influen- 
tial factors in the entire musical world. 
Frederick Wieck, Julius Knorr and 
Ludwig Schunke were associated with 
’ Schumann in this work, and it attracted 
wide attention in a short time. 

It was through the columns of this 
paper that Schumann brought to life 
his fanciful society of artists called the 
| Davidsbiindler. This society included 
/many imaginary characters, such as ° 
Florestan, supposed to represent the 
fiery, ardent side of Schumann’s own 
nature, and Eusebius, which was the 
composer’s mental picture of his gent- 
ler side. This society was named 
“Davidsbtindler,” from the idea that 
David’s hosts were destined to slay the 
Philistines or those who were content 
with the conventional. 


CLARA SCHUMANN AS A CHILD, A GIRL AND AS A WOMAN. 


Through the Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik, Schumann 
generously and zealously championed the cause of 
musicians who were struggling for fame. Chopin, 
Berlioz, Franz, Mendelssohn, Henselt and Brahms all 
owe a debt to Schumann’s powerful pen. 


SCHUMANN’S EVENTFUL MARRIAGE. 


No romantic couple could wish for more eventful 
obstructions to matrimony than had Clara and Robert 
Schumann. Wieck looked down upon Schumann and 
thought that his daughter would be throwing herself 

away upon him. Schu- 


‘mann’s means were 
very slight, and he 
strove to increase 


them by changing his 
residence in Vienna. 
Here, amid new sources 
of inspiration, his muse 
was delightfully influ- 
enced, but his finances 
remained unimproved. 
In 1839 he returned to 
Leipzig and renewed 
his siege upon the elder 
Wieck. Clara in the 
meantime had _ been 
decorated by many of 
Wie the European courts, 
and Schumann felt that 
he ought to have some 
additional distinction. Accordingly he applied for the 
degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University 
in Jena, and received his diploma in 1840. Still 
Wieck was obdurate, and it was not until Schu- 
mann had been obliged to resort to the courts that he 
was enabled by law to marry Clara against her father’s 
will. 

Shortly after his marrlage he commenced to produce 
his remarkable songs, including Myrthen, Liebesfriihl- 
ing, Frauenliebe und Leben. In these impassioned 
works we find an atmosphere of sincerity and melodic 
freshness that never fails to inspire. Quite different in 
many ways from the songs of Schubert, they represent 
an even more intimate and finely worked phase of the 
art song. 

Schumann was now at his prime as a composer, and 
one masterpiece followed another in very rapid succes- 
sion. His symphonies, his quartets, his piano pieces 
and his choral works met with such great success that 
his labors undermined his health. He rarely left home 
except when he went upon concert tours with his wife. 
They made trips to Hamburg, St. Petersburg and 
Vienna, and even contemplated a trip to London. In 
Leipzig he held the professorship of pianoforte playixg 
and composition at the newly founded Conservatorium. 
His long friendship with Mendelssohn secured him the 
position, but it was well known that he met with but 
slight success as a teacher. 


FREDERICK 


SCHUMANN’S TEACHER. 


SCHUMANN’S TRAGIC DEATH. 


In 1844 Schumann moved to Dresden with the hope 
of restoring his shattered health amid different. sur- 
roundings. In Dresden, Schumann met Wagner and 
Hiller. With the latter he formed a firm friendship, 
but Wagner’s restless temperament did not appeal to 
the seclusive, retiring nature of Schumann. Schumann 
recovered sufficiently to undertake his work again, and 
produced many notable compositions, including - his 
opera, (senoveva, his music to Faust, and the music to 


Byron’s Manfred. For a time his former vitality 
seemed to be restored to him, and he conducted the 
male singing society previously conducted by Hiller. 
Schumann later succeeded Hiller as the conductor at 
Diisseldorf. There he found himself in congenial sur- 
roundings, but his orchestral leadership was on a par 
with his teaching, and Schumann could never be 
described as a great conductor. In Diisseldorf he pro- 
duced the E flat minor Symphony and The Pilgrimage 
of the Rose. In 1851 Schumann and his family spent 
a short time in Switzerland. Schumann's mental decline 
commenced in 1851-1852. Although he was able to do 
some important work, his friends could not fail to notice 
his increasing eccentricities. He realized his condition 
perfectly and often suggested that he be placed in an 
asylum. One night he imagined that the spirits of 
Mendelssohn and Schubert had visited him and pre- 
sented him with a theme for variations. He attempted 
to write these variations but never finished them. In 
1854 he jumped from a bridge into the Rhine with the 
purpose of committing suicide but was rescued by some 
boatmen. Two years before his death he was confined 
in a private asylum near Bonn. His condition improved 
for a time, but it soon became evident that a desperate 
change had taken place. The wonderful soul that had 
done so much to add to the beauty of the world faded 
gradually away. The end came July 29, 1856. Schu- 
mann died in the arms of his loving wife. He was 
buried in Bonn. In 1873 a Schumann festival was 
given in Bonn for the purpose of erecting a monument 


over his grave, and this monument was unveiled in 
1880. 


SCHUMANN’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 


_Despite Schumann’s uncertain health he appeared to be 
strong and even robust to some. He was of medium height. 
He was careful in his attire and during his younger years 
very systematic, As age approached he became slightly 
corpulent. His eyes ‘‘were generally down-cast’”’? and his 
face became animated only when he talked with intimate 
friends, although his expression was genial and engaging. 
His brow was large and noble, and his thick hair was 
dark brown in color. 

It is said that Schumann’s style of talking resembled a 
soliloquy, and he chose to speak only upon lofty subjects 
never wasting any of his time upon the meaningless nothings 
of conventional conversation. His periods of silence 
offended some who did not understand him, or who did not 
sense the bitter misfortune that was awaiting him. Schu- 
mann drank and smoked but never to excess. He was 
particularly fond of champagne. He was devoted to his 
wife and to his several children. At home he played with 
them as another child might play, but in the street he was 
almost oblivious to them. We have already mentioned his 
splendid generosity of spirit toward his contemporary com- 
posers. 


THE INFLUENCE OF CLARA SCHUMANN. 


It would be difficult to estimate Schumann’s debt to 
his talented wife. As sweetheart, companion, mother, 
and even as nurse, Clara was all that devotion could 
demand. Her great skill at the keyboard ‘enabled her 
to publish her husband’s latest compositions in the con- 
cert halls, making them known far more effectively than 
if he had been obliged to depend upon type. It is 
know that she was constantly in consultation with her 
husband when he was composing. Like Fanny Men- 
delssohn (Hensel) and the wife of Robert Franz, she 
was gifted as a composer. Her twenty-three opus 
numbers include some very impressive compositions. 
After Schumann’s death she made many concert tours 
and for a time made an annual visit to England, where 
she was received with great favor. In 1878 she became 
the principal teacher of piano at the Dr. Floch Conserv- 
atory in Frankfurt am Main, then as now one of the 
finest music schools in Germany. 


54 


SCHUMANN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. | 


Of all bis contemporaries Schumann knew Mendelssuin 
and Hiller best. His music was of such ‘a kind that it 
appealed to musicians before it appealed to the general 
public. Quotations regarding him from the pens of famous 
musicians cannot fail to be of interest. 

Moscheles. “For intellect give me Schumann, Romantic- 
ism strikes me very forcibly in him. His geniality alike is 
so very great that I lose myself more and more in his 
works in order to estimate fairly the qualities as the 
weaknesses of the new school.” 

Liszt, “‘He appears to us good and lovable as every sub- 
lime personality; gifted and variable like every true artist. 


SCHUMANN’S COMPOSITIONS. 


The catalogs of Schumann’s works represent one 
hundred and forty-eight opus numbers and in addition 
to this twelve other numbers. This, however, affords: 
the general reader little means of computing the quan- 
tity of his output, since several of the opus numbers 
represent collections of pieces and others stand for 
works of large formal dimensions. His four symphonies 
(B flat, C, E flat and D minor) have been described 
as the greatest examples of symphonic writing since 
Beethoven. His instrumental works also include sev- 
eral overtures, a pianoforte concerto, numerous excel- 
lent chamber music compositions, six fugues for organ, 
a large number of excellent pianoforte pieces, as well 
as pieces for violin and ’cello. His vocal works include 
his songs of incomparable mastery, his opera Genoveva, 
his cantatas (Paradise and the Peri, The Pilgrimage 
of the Rose), and many unaccompanied choruses. 


BOOKS ABOUT SCHUMANN. 


The bibliography of Schumann is quite extensive but 
not nearly so great as that of either Beethoven or 
Wagner. Of the biographies, those of Riessmann, 
Wasielewski and Dr. Annie Patterson are the best 
known in English. Selections from Schumann’s Essays 
and Criticism have been translated by Fanny Ritter 
and are published in English. These are of exceptional 
interest to music students. His Advice to Young 
Musicians contains his rules for piano practice and 
has a very wide sale. The most recent Schumann book 


of note is the two-volume Litzmann biography of Clara 
Schumann, Marie Wieck’s book. 


Rosert AND CLARA SCHUMANN. 


A SCHUMANN PROGRAM. 


Grade 
SU PLANO 2D URTH oe oe amet eee Joyous Peasant 3 
is (Arranged by Felix Smith.) 

2 MIDCAT SOLO mim cic esl ....Two Grenadiers 4 

3) PIANO SOLO.e cane ce ......Bird as Prophet 7 

4, Viot1n Soto. .Slumber Song, Opus 124, No. 16 3 
B, | CBORUS Ar aaa oe Cee eee EL ee Gypsy Life 
6, Piano Duet.....Finale Etudes Symphoniques, 

Opus dkee.ickcnonn. san Seen <ieee nya 

7 = MOCAT.C SOLO MEM eRe aoe Ich Grolle Nicht 5 

8. Prano Soto....Nocturne in F, Opus 23, No. 4 5 

OV IOLING SOLON shea Traumerei, Opus 15, No. 7 3 
LOG ORUS Sere ee ceke el, .....Die Lotusblumer 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS, 


1. Tell something of Schumann's ancestry. 

2. When and where was Schumann born? 

3. What famous musician did Schumann meet when he 
was a youth? 

4. What did Schumann study at the University? 

5. Who was Schumann’s piano teacher? 

6. Give an account of the romance of Robert Schu- 
mann and Clara Wieck. 

7: What did Schumann do in musical journalism? 

8. When was Schumann married? 

9. What grent affliction came to Schumann late in life? 

10. When and where did Schumann die? 


ie 


Ly 
sae eea| 


THE RISE OF THE STRAUSS FAMILY. 
Tue rise of the Strauss family can hardly be 
described as meteoric since it was not until 
after many years of patient labor that attention 
was first drawn to the fascinating music of 
the Vienna court which kept all the mem- 
bers of the famous family in public view 
for neatly a century. Many contend that it was the 
waltz that carried the elder Strauss into such great 
favor, but his innate musical ability is evident in so 
many of the things that he did that it is dificult for 
one to put a finger upon just what it was which made 
this famous coterie of musicians world renowned. 
The waltz is said by the French to have been derived 
from a dance known as the Volta or Ravolta, known 
even in the days of Good Queen Bess. The Germans. 
however, are anxious to claim the dance and point to 
its similarity with the German word waltzen. The 
dance in some parts was solemn and stately and in 
other parts it was so coarse and uproarious that cities 
like Nuremburg and Amberg published edicts against 
it. About the time of our Revolutionary War the 
modern waltz apparently came into existence and the 
tune to which it was danced was “Ach du Lieber 
Augustin.” 


This was first heard 
Austria as a tune for the modern dance. 
it made its way from European capitals to England, 
where the storm of objections which greeted it natu- 


Bohemia and 
Gradually 


in Bavaria, 


rally advertised the dance to the utmost. Even Lord 
Byron, the author of Don Juan, and a gentleman of 
none too lofty piety, wrote a diatribe in verse upon the 
iniquitous dance. The Puritans foresaw the downfall! 
of the nation under the gliding heels of the dancers. 
Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart were not above pen- 
ning music which might be used for the dance. At first 
these alluring dances consisted of two sections of 
eight measures of three-quarter or three-eighth time. 
But our modern form came when a number of sections 
of sixteen measures in length were played one after 
the other in fitting order with the addition of sections 
called introduction, trio and coda. The first of these 
is said to have been a waltz by Hummel issued in 1808. 

The waltzes of Schubert have great charm and char- 
acter though they are not used to any extent for 
dancing. Strauss and Lanner usurped the Waltz field 
so completely that few others found 
room for their works. Weber in his 
Auforderung Zum Tanz introduced 
the waltz to the concert hall and 
made way for the wonderful works 
of Chopin and other composers. But 
it is not with this phase of the waltz 
which we have particularly to do, 
but rather with the waltz which 
brought such peculiar renown to 
the name of Strauss. 


JOHANN STRAUSS THE FIRST. 


The parents of the first Johann 
‘Strauss were not professional mu- 
sicians. They kept a small inn in 
Vienna and were determined not to 
have their son become a musician. 
The boy showed wonderful natural 
talent and as his own son later to 
become so famous as a composer of 
light music expressed it: “Father 
was a musician by Grace of God. 
Had he not been guided by an inner 
irresistible impulse, the difficulties 
which confronted him in his youth 
would have pushed him into another 
path.” The parents of Johann 


JoHANNES BRAHMS. 


Bt 


ONIMOUDOVOOUURUUDDOERUOD ODUUUUQGRGCQTINOVUONVANANUOOVVAROIQOOTINONVNODODAINDETOMNQORETOUOVACOUHMIAOLUOOOLEMUTTNITIN@S 


Strauss, Sr., made the fatal error of encouraging the 
boy in his childhood—fatal in so far as their scheme 
of preventing him from becoming a musician was con- 
cerned but most fortunate for that great part of man- 
kind who revel in light music. 

When the boy was fourteen his musical tendencies 
were looked upon with great seriousness by his parents 
who wished to spare their son from what they thought 
a life of ignominy and poverty. Accordingly he was 
apprenticed to a book binder. This life was unen- 
durable to the impressionable youth particularly be- 
cause the master was severe and had strict instructions 
to keep his apprentice from playing the fiddle. One 
night the boy packed up his precious fiddle and putting 
the remainder of his earthly possessions in a little baz 
he slipped softly away from trade forever. 

A friend induced him to return to his parents whose 
harshness had softened by this time. They consented 
to having him trained musically and he was placed 
under local masters among whom was the violin teacher 
Polyschausky and the theory teacher Seyfried. He 


JoHANN Strauss, JR. 


55 


Hans RIcHTER. 


)ANEAUTARAVEDORDEDREONOGRNURINAOLONNOEROTS 


lice 


arin 


ne 


played occasionally at private homes and at 
Summer Gardens. In this way he chanced to 
meet another performer of his own genre in the 
person of Josef Lanner. 


LANNER’S INFLUENCE UPON STRAUSS. 


Josef Franz Karl Lanner was born at Oberdobling, 
near Vienna, April 11, 1801. He was largely self-taught, 
and owing to his unusual initiative he succeeded in organiz- 
ing a litle coterie of musicians which soon became famous in 
Vienna. Many give him the credit of being the first to give 
the great impulse to the then so-called modern dances—the 
waltz, the galop, the quadrille, the march and the polka. He 
was only four years older than his great contemporary 
Strauss, but was fairly well established in popular favor 
when Strauss came to him with an application to play the 
viola part in Lanner’s famous quartet. Lanner grew and 
grew in popularity. His music, now little played, was the 
talk of the hour and people actually fought for the privilege 
of retaining his services. With the great and increasing 
demand for music of the Lanner type the leader saw the 
possibility of making two bodies of players, with himself at 
the head of one and Strauss at the head of another. The 
success amazed them _ both. When Strauss first joined 
Lanner’s quartet it was the duty of the young violinist to 
go around hat in hand to the different patrons of the cafes 
and summer gardens where they played. The superiority of 
their playing, however, soon placed them in position to ask 
high prices for engagements. 

In 1826 Strauss separated from Lanner, and with an 
orchestra of only fourteen players appeared in an amuse- 
ment resort known as ‘The Swan.’ After only a few per- 
formances the people flocked to The Swan to hear the 
music of the little band that set one’s very nerves a danc- 
ing. His first composition was the Tauberl-Walzer. This 
was an immediate success and the public demanded more 
and more. Although many of these early waltzes are known 
now by name only they created veritable furores at the 
time. His next engagement was one of six years at another 
resort known as the ‘Sperl.” 


THE MUSIC OF THE COURT BALLS. 


It was not long before Strauss was in such great 
demand that he was made Capellmeister of the band 
of the Birger-regiment. This required his services at 
all court balls and the elaborate fétes given by the 
opulent Austrian Court of the day. It often happened 
that he had many engagements in one day and there- 
fore it was necessary for him to increase his band until 
he had 200 musicians constantly employed. As his fame 
increased he raised the character of many of the 
numbers upon his program so that before long his 
musicians were playing famous works with a new verve 
and life that commanded the attention of serious 
minded musicians. His fame spread so that before 
long he was compelled to take his picked orchestra on 
tours and during the years from 1833 to 1838 he 


visited almost all parts of Germany and Austria, 
Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland and France. 


Everywhere his orchestra was greeted with much ap- 
plause. He reached England at the time of the coro- 
nation of Queen Victoria and played literally hundreds 
of engagements private and public. 


THE HEYDAY OF THE DANCE, 


How much of Strauss’ popularity at 
the time was due to the great dance 
furore is impossible to estimate. He 


was feted everywhere. When he 
appeared in Vienna after a long 
absence the occasion was made a 


kind of public féte. In Berlin, the 
King attended his performances in 
person and invited him to play at 
the Royal Palace. The Crown Prince 
of Prussia, who later became the 
famous Emperor William I, of Ger- 
many honored Strauss by ordering a 
special concert of 200 bandsmen. 
When Strauss left Berlin there was 
a special torchlight procession and 
serenade given in which he was 
honored by many citizens. A similar 
distinction was shown to him when 
he left England in 1849. His con- 
certs were hugely stccessful in 
London, and upon his departure he 
was followed down the Thames witk 
numerous boats filled with enthusi- 
astic admirers. One of the boats 
contained a band which played until 


the steamer put out to 
sea. 

Upon his return to 
Vienna he was received 
again with his old time 
favor, but in September 
of 1849 he was taken 
with scarlet fever and 
died after only four 
days’ illness. His fu- 
neral was attended by 
immense crowds and a 
Requiem Mass was given 
in his honor by his own 
band accompanied by a 


great number of the 
leading singers of 

JOHANN Strauss, Jr. Vienna. 
Fortunately he was 
able to leave a successor who was destined to 
attain almost as much fame as himself. By a 


marriage with Anna Streim, the daughter of an inn- 
keeper (in 1824), Strauss became the father of five 
children, Johann, Josef, Eduard, Anna and Therese. 
Of these, three sons became well known in the musical 
world. 

Strauss’ methods of conducting were the subject of 
much comment in his time. Many felt that he exag- 
gerated to the extent of becoming a charlatan but 
others saw in it a style which was in turn followed by 
his three sons and became identified with the family. 
Naturally quiet he seemed to become electrified under 
the influence of music. Again this apparently made 
some sort of an emotional impression upon his 
orchestra so that every member was in an intense 
state of musical excitement. Indeed from what the 
critics of the time had to say of his work in this direc- 
tion, his whole organization seemed to be synchronized 
with his own spirits and emotions. He almost in- 
variably conducted with his own violin in hand, occa- 
sionally conducting with the bow but rather leading his 
men by the nuances of his own playing. He stood 
most of the time with his back to his players, rarely 
referring to the notes of the composition he was con- 
ducting. 


APPRECIATION BY SERIOUS MUSICIANS. 


Although Strauss’s compositions are rarely more ambitious 
than the ball room it is quite astonishing to note how 
willingly composers of more serious intentions have been 
ready to recognize their claims as artistic pieces of music, 
The late Anton Seidl delighted in putting a Strauss waltz 
on his programs. Once, in speaking to a friend, he said, 
“Strauss is the musical synonym of life.” Wagner was 
known to have admired Strauss, as did Mendelssohn, 
Cherubini and Meyerbeer, His works and also the works 
of his famous son Johann are so spontaneous in parts that 
when properly played they have an almost intoxicating 
effect. _Drummed upon the piano they lose all their sensi- 
tive quivering emotional life. In 1899 the works were con- 
sidered worthy of a complete edition issued in the famous 
series by Breitkopf und Hiirtel. Z 


THREE GIFTED SONS. 


In 1825 (Oct. 25th) Johann Strauss, Jr., was born 
in Vienna, Perhaps on account of bitter experience in 
making music his profession Johann Strauss, Sr., 
solemnly and deliberately determined that none of his 
sons should follow the musical profession. Why it is 
hard to say since he had been wonderfully fortunate in 
every thing he did. Johann, Jr., was accordingly given 
a very liberal education at the Polytechnic and the Gym- 
nasium. Thereafter he became a clerk in a savings 
bank. But what father proposes, mother disposes and 
the boy had secret les- 
sons in violin playing 
for years, thanks to a 
mother’s willingness to 
gratify her boy’s wishes. 
In 1844 he made his first 
appearance as a con- 
ductor playing composi- 
tions of his own. A 
very fortunate turn this 
was, for when his father 
died in 1849 the son was 
able to unite his own 
orchestra with that of 
the father and thus con- 
tinue what was at least 
a very valuable family 
possession which might 
otherwise have been lost. 
For a time he toured Germany and Austria and then 
spent a short season as conductor of the Summer 
Concerts at the Petropaulowski Park at St. Petersburg. 
In 1863 he became conductor of the famous court balls 
and resumed the brilliant work done by his father. 

Happy, bright, full of swing and the joy of youth 


Epuarp Strauss. 


his music made immediate conquests wherever it was 
heard. It must not be thought that all of his four 
hundred or thereabouts waltzes are equally good, but 
there are a number fully as enchanting as An der 
schénen blauen Donau (Blue Danube). 

In later years Strauss made important appearances 
with his orchestra in Italy and in Paris but he had 
found a. new field and this was that of light opera. 
In 1871 he produced Indigo and the Forty Robbers, the 
first of a long series of successes which made the 
Theatre an der Wien world famous. Among these 
were Die Fledermaus, Prinz Methusalem, Zigeuner- 
baron and others. The Fledermaus is still given in the 
great opera houses of the world. At the Metropolitan 
a few years ago it was presented with a famous cast 
with great enthusiasm upon the part of the audience. 
The music and part of the plot formed the base of 
The Merry Countess, a comic opera recently given in 
all parts of the United States. 

Strauss worked continually up to the time of his 
death in Vienna in 1899. How well his works were 
regarded may be judged by an appreciation by Wagner 
which runs: 

“While the Strauss waltzes are not deep in style 
yet one Strauss waltz often contains more charm, 
more delicacy and more real musical worth than all 
the toilsome, constricted, factory-made musical pro- 
ducts of some countries which to me are as inferior 
as lamp posts of Paris are to the towering spire of St. 
Stephen’s at Rome.” 

The names of the most 
famous waltzes by Jo- 
hann Strauss, Jr., are 
Wiener Blut, Man Lebt 
Nur Einmal, Kunstler- 
leben, Tausend und eine 
Nacht and of course the 
ever vernal Blue Dan- 
ube. No one need have 
any artistic compunc- 
tions about playing a 
Strauss waltz. The 
present writer knows 
many world famous 
pianists who delight in 
performing them, not 
only in the elaborate 
paraphrases of Tausig, 
Schulz-Eyler or Schiitt 
but in their original form for the sake of the enchant- 
ing tunes. Just as our own Sousa has written incom- 
parable marches of a certain type so has Strauss com- 
posed waltzes that very few if any have approached. 


JosEeF STRAUSS. 


JOSEF STRAUSS. 


Josef Strauss was the second son of Johann Strauss, Sr. 
He was born in Vienna, August 22d, 1827. His father deter- 
mined that he should become an architect. The story runs 
that the elder Strauss was so busy with his innumerable 
professional engagements that he was obliged to live apart 
from his family for the most of the year. He paid little 
attention to his sons. While he did not want them to 
become musicians they took piano lessons through the con- 
nivance of their mother. One day a friend met the father 
in the street and congratulated him upon the splendid 
progress his sons were making in music. The father called 
the boys in and after a good scolding ordered them to play 
a duet for him. He saw that they had not only studied 
their music but had also studied ‘all the mannerisms of 
their father. All his own peculiarities of style were mir- 
rored in the playing of the sons. When they had finished 
he said in the Viennese dialete “Buben, @ass spielt Buch 
niemans nach’? (Boys, no one can beat you at that). 
Nevertheless the father still withheld his consent to a 
musical career. Josef made numerous tours and wrote 
voluminously but can not be said to have attained the 
Feet ee ycese of his brother or his father. He died July 
2% Te ‘ : 


EDUARD STRAUSS. 

The youngest of the Strauss brothers, Eduard, was 
born at Vienna, Feb. 14, 1835, and educated at the 
Gymnasium. His father died when he was fourteen 
years old and consequently he was permitted to have 
a systematic musical training. In 1870 he became con- 
ductor of the court balls, a position held by his father 
and his brother Johann. His orchestra made extensive 
tours of Europe and visited America twice. While not 
so fecund as his brothers he published a number of 
compositions. It is fair to estimate that the Strauss 
family produced more good popular tunes than came 
from any other source during the last century. Up- 
wards of 1000 published compositions of varying de- 
grees of merit stand to their credit. 


A STRAUSS PROGRAM. 


A whole program of Strauss music suitable for a recital 
or a club meeting is by no means an easy matter to pre- 
pare. Lack of variety is the principal difficulty. When 
all is said and done the waltzes of the Strauss family stand 
out far and above most of their other compositions, and 
here we are largely restricted to the waltzes of Johann, Jr. 
Just why they should be so successful in three-quarter time 
and so little famed for their music in other metres is im- 
possible to say. There are a few polkas, marches and 
galops which are interesting, but they are far behind the 


56 


ee 


waltzes in many ways. If a Strauss waltz is prepared for 
a’ program it should receive far more than usual attention. 
The phrasing should be studied, the accents, the markings, 
and it should be so thoroughly mastered that the player 
can perform it with same elastic freedom with which he 
would dance it. When the Strauss family played their 
waltzes it was the custom not to keep strict metronomie 
time throughout. Even when playing for dancing there were 
gradual accelerandos and ritards which the dancers were 
forced to follow. This it is said added great charm to their 
dance music. In one of the most characteristic of all the 
Strauss waltzes, Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Legends 
from the Vienna Forest), it is possible to make all sorts of 
interpretative changes which will add to the charming lilt 
of the piece. It must not be thought that all that bears 
the stamp of Strauss is good. There are often very pre- 
cipitous descents into what can only be called banality. 
Again, at times, there are tunes which only a_ genius 
could have written. The following are representative 
Strauss pieces: 7 


1. Wiener Blut Waltz (Vienna Blood Waltz), 
JOHANN Srrauss, Jr., Opus 354 
2. Morgen Blatter Waltz (Morning Journal] Waltz), 
JOHANN Srravuss, Jr., Opus 279 
. Rosen aus der Siiden Waltz (Roses from the South), 
JOHANN Strauss, JR., Opus 388 
. Auf Friem Fiisse (Foot Free) (Polka), 
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 345 
(Artists’ Life), 
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 316 
. Tausend und Ein Nacht Waltz (Thousand and One 
Wights): <.)ob ane JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 346 
Du und Du Waltz, from Fledermaus (One of the 
most entrancing of all waltzes), 
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 267 
8. Hin Herz, Bin Sinn Polka (One heart, one mind), 
JOHANN Strauss, Jn., Opus 323 
9. \Pilezicaton Polka... eee JOHANN and JOSEF STRAUSS 
10. Beautiful Blue Danube.JoHANN SrrRAuss, JR., Opus 314 
11. Wine; Woman and Song, 
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 333 
12. Geschiten Aus dem Wiener Wald, 
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR., Opus 325 
138. Radetsky March ..... JOHANN STRAUSS, Sr., Opus 228 
14. Arm in Arm (Polka)........JOSEF STRAUSS, Opus 215 
15. Das Leben ein Tanz....JOHANN STRAUSS, Sr., Opus 49 
16. Donau Lieder .......JOHANN Strauss, Sr., Opus 127 
17. Doctrinen Waltz ...........EDUARD STRAUSS, Opus 79 


3 
4 
5. Kiinstler Leben Waltz 
6. 
a 


THE STRAUSS CRAZE. 


In the foregoing the reader must have been im- 
pressed with the wonderful ability to create a furore or 
craze which the members of the Strauss family seemed 
to possess. Like the dance craze of 1914, the croquet 
craze of our grandfathers, the South Sea Bubble, or the 
great Tulip craze of Holland, the Strauss craze set 
Europe afire repeatedly during the middle of the last 
century. What is it which makes the Strauss music 
have this fascination? High spirits and a sensuous ap- 
peal to the emotions are given as an explanation. But 
other composers have made this appeal and have not 
received a response. Wonderful melodic fertility is the 
only explanation. Many of the Strauss themes are 
miserably trivial, but there are times when some of 
them possess a quality which can only be described 
as intoxicating. Like some overpowering drug they 
seize the mind of the listener and cling to it in a most 
exasperatingly tenacious manner. In many of the 
waltzes of Johann, Jr. the use of double thirds and 
double sixths has a very haunting effect. The following 
example of a few measures from Geschicten aus der 
Wiener Wald illustrates this excellently. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


. Describe the ancestry of the Strauss family. 
When and where was Johann Strauss, Sr., born? 
. Describe the youth of Johann Strauss, Sr. 
Who was Joseph Lanner? 
When was Johann Strauss, Jr., born: 
. Which would you say was the most famous of all the 
Strauss family? 

7. Tell something of the work of Josef and of Hduard 
Strauss. 

8. What famous position was held by members of the 
Strauss family for the better part of a century? 

9. Name some of the famous compositions of the Strauss 
family. 

10, What are some of the musical characteristics of the 
Strauss compositions ? 


DP TH 2919 


books in a piece of music paper. 


=A 


tl LTT 


— — 


) i 


ss 


j= 
© 


THE PERIOD OF RICHARD STRAUSS 
Richard Strauss was just one year old when 
Wagner’s masterpiece Tristan und Isolde was 
produced (June 10, 1865), at the Royal Opera 
House in Munich, the birthplace of Strauss. 
Verdi was still the Verdi of Trovatore, Rigo- 


letto and Traviata, as Aida did not have its first presen- 


tation until 1872. Yet Strauss is two years younger than 
Debussy and six years younger than his famous Italian 
contemporary, Puccini. 

The impress of Richard Wagner upon German musi- 
cal life was inconceivably great. Weber had sought 
to make the operatic music of Germany more Teutonic 
and less Latin, but in Wagner was found a master 
who was the very epitome of German national life. 
As the public was gradually converted to the propa- 
ganda of Wagner, interest multiplied until at the 
time of the youth of Strauss Wagner had become a 
kind of Germanic god. 

At the same moment the influence of certain Ger- 
man philosophical tendencies were strongly felt. Kant, 
Hegel and the lugubrious Schopenhauer were being 
read, possibly to the neglect of Klopstock, Heyse, 
Uhland and Lenau. Goethe, Lessing and Schiller, loved 
as they are by all Germans, were superceded in many 
circles by the intense interest in philosophical ques- 
tions. Nietsche (particularly the later Nietsche of 
Jenseits von Gut und Bése) with his idolatry of the 
will, his scorn of pity and his apostrophe of the joy 
of battle unquestionably made a great impress upon 
German life and thought. 

These influences, then, together with the enormous 
industrial advance, the magnificent accomplishments in 
education, the stiffening of German ambitions that came 
with the victory over France, the natural diligence and 
thoroughness of the German people, all made a most 
forceful impression upon the young Strauss, born to 
witness his fatherland in the days of its greatest 
progress. 


STRAUSS’S ANCESTRY AND YOUTH 

As is generally known, Richard Strauss is not in 
any way connected with the famous Viennese family 
of composers of terpsichorean melodies. The father 
of Richard Strauss was Franz Strauss, a performer 
upon the French horn. He bore the title of Konig- 
liche Bayrischer Kammermusiker (Royal Bavarian 
Chamber Musician). For many years Franz Strauss 
was a teacher at the Royal Music School at Munich. 
Richard Strauss’s mother was Josephine Pschorr, 
daughter of the famous Munich brewer, Georg Pschorr. 
The composer was born over a Bierhalle or saloon 
attached to the brewery in Altheimereck. A tablet 
now adorns the front of this structure. 

At the age of four and one-half years Strauss com- 
menced his first lessons in music, studying piano with 
a harp player in the Royal Orchestra (August Tombo). 
The boy’s mother, a genial refined lady, assisted in 
his early training. Even at this very early age Strauss 
exhibited an omnivorous appetite for work. and his 
progress was amazing to his teacher and to his parents 
alike. At the age of eleven a new teacher stepped 
in. This was the. excellent pedagog, Niest. In the 
meantime his school studies had commenced, as had 
instruction in violin with Beno Walter, Concertmeister 
of the Royal Orchestra. Czerny and Kreutzer, Bach 
and Viotti, now fiddle, now piano, followed in rapid 
succession. Not content with playing he made many 
attempts at composition, starting at the age of six. 

In 1874 he left the day school for the Ludwigsgym- 
nasium or High School, where he remained until he 
was eighteen years of age. Once when his mother 
was sending him off to school she wrapped up his 
When the boy re- 
turned she found that he had spent part of his school 
hours in completely covering the paper with notes of 
fanciful compositions. 

In school Strauss took immense interest in all forms 
of mathematics notably higher algebra and _ spherical 
trigonometry. The best part of his musical education 


“Unless one completely comprehends the significance 
of the development of music from Haydn, through 
Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner, one cannot rightfully 
judge the music of Wagner or other moderns.” 


in his early youth was the unlimited opportunity to 
hear great masterpieces, notably the German classics. 
The position of Franz Strauss enabled his son to at- 
tend the leading concerts of the time and hear the 
greatest artists. This unquestionably had a great for- 
mative effect upon the boy’s after life. 


SPECIAL STUDIES 

Strange to note Strauss did not attend any of the 
famous music schools of Germany. Whether the elder 
Strauss had set opinions antagonizing institutional 
musical instruction is not known. From 1875 to 1880 
Strauss studied harmony and counterpoint with the 
Royal Capellmaster, Fr. W. Meyer. Although accord- 
ing to German custom a harmony book was little used, 
the study plan followed that of the conventional Rich- 
ter. The boy was blessed by having many relatives 
who were musical, and in whose homes music was the 
chief center of interest. He composed many smaller 
works which indicated his inclinations so clearly that 
when Rheinberger heard some of them he said, “It 
is a shame that you are adopting these modern meth- 
ods, because you have so much talent.” 

Strauss, however, was well grounded in the works 
of the classical masters. He says “My father obliged 
me very strictly to study the works of the old masters. 
Now young composers bring me many manuscripts 
and ask my opinion upon them, I look them through 
and see at once where they have given the most of 
their attention to Wagner. Then I say to them, ‘My 
dear good fellows go home and study the works of 
Bach, the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beet- 
hoven, and when you have mastered these, bring me 
your works again.’ When I tell them this I give them 
the cream of my own experience.” 

In 1882 Strauss completed his studies at the Gym- 
nasium and made his first trip to the Festival at Bay- 
reuth. In the fall of the same year he entered the 
University giving special attention to philosophy, <s- 
thetics, the history of culture and the works of William 
Shakespeare. He laid great stress upon the value of 
private lectures from no less than Schopenhauer, Niet- 
sche and Stirner. 

In 1882 Strauss, at the instigation of his father, 
joined a celebrated amateur orchestra known as the 
“Wilde Gungl,” playing first violin while the elder 
Strauss conducted. 

Be 


5 PS WU 


\ 


EARLY COMPOSITIONS 

One record has it that Richard Strauss’s first 
composition was written at the age of six and 
bore the proud title of The Tailor’s Polka 
(Schneider-Polka). However, when Strauss 
was about sixteen years of age serious attention 
was given to his works which at that time were con- 
sidered very pretentious for a youth. In 1880 three 
of his songs were sung publicly by the well-known 
German opera singer, and in 1881 the Beno Walter 
Quartet played the youth’s String Quartet in A Major. 
This was a promising beginning for a young composer 
but the climax was capped in the same year by the per- 
formance of a Symphony in D minor, in four move- 
ments, under the direction of the great Wagnerian con- 
ductor, Hermann Levi. By the time that Strauss was 
twenty he had completed Five Piano Pieces (Opus 3), 
a Sonata for Violoncello and Piano (Opus 6), a much 
liked Serenade for Wind Instruments (Opus 7), a Violin 
Concerto (Opus 8), a series of pieces for piano called 
Stimmungsbilder (Opus 9), and a Concerto for French 
horn, together with occasional songs. 

In 1884 Strauss was introduced to American music 
lovers through the performance of his Symphony in 
F Minor under the direction of that American pioneer 


of young and deserving European masters, Theodore 
Thomas. 


MEININGEN AND VON BULOW 

In 1885 Strauss went to Meiningen to receive advice 
from von Bulow upon the subject of conducting. Von 
Bulow, despite his taciturnity, took a warm interest in 
the young man. As the leader of one of the finest 
orchestras in Europe he was able to help him im- 
mensely, Strauss appeared under von Biilow’s direc- 
tion as a pianist, playing the Mozart Concerto in C 
minor. When yon Bilow retired from the post at 
Meiningen, Strauss became his successor. At about 
the same time the young man met Alexander Ritter 
who then was a member of the Meiningen Orchestra. 
Von Ritter was a radical in the temperate sense of 
that much abused word. He had been an intimate 
friend of Richard Wagner, and was saturated with 
the poetry and philosophical thought of Germany. As 
a composer, Alexander Ritter can not be reckoned 
among the great, but his influence upon Richard Strauss 
was known to have been very marked. In fact Strauss 
admitted that Ritter did much to direct his talent along 
advanced lines. 


TEN ACTIVE YEARS 

After holding the post of conductor at Meiningen for 
but a very short time Strauss went to Italy for a few 
months’ rest. He was then appointed one of the assist- 
ant conductors at Munich under Levi. Some years 
later he became assistant to Lassen, the court conductor 
at Weimar. His interest in his career caused him to 
overwork and the result was a breakdown. This ob- 
liged him to take a protracted rest and he chose Greece 
and Egypt as the place of his sojourn (1892). This 
provided opportunity for the composition of his first 
opera, Guutram, produced in Weimar in 1894, The 
prima donna in his opera was Pauline de Ahna, daugh- 
ter of a Bavarian general, whom Strauss married later 
in the same year. Fortunately, coincident with his mar- 
riage came the coveted appointment of Court Capell- 
meister at Munich. There Strauss had unlimited oppor- 
tunities and made the best of them. 

Tl.is decade in -Strauss’s career is noteworthy in the 
history of music. The symphonic poem Aus Italien 
represents the effect of his trip to Italy and also the 
influence of the progressive ideas of Alexander Ritter. 
Strauss admits that taken together with his famous 
orchestral Burleske this work marks the turning point 
in his career. Aus Italien was first produced in Munich 
in 1887. The momentous nature of these years may be 
indicated by noting the first performance of the fol- 
lowing works, now a regular part of the repertoires of 
great orchestras the world over: 


Macbeth (Op. 23), 
Symphonic Poem, Berlin, 
1887. 

Don Juan (Op. 20), 
Symphonic Poem, Berlin, 
1888. 

Tod und Verklérung, 
Symphonic Poem, Eisen- 
ach, 1890. 

Till Eulenspiegel (Op. 


28), Symphonic Poem, 
Cologne, 1895. 
Also  Sprach Zara- 


thrustra (Op. 30), Sym- 
phonic Poem, Frankfurt, 
1895. 

Don Quixote (Op. 35), 
Symphonic Poem, 1897. 
Ein Heldenleben (Op. 40), Symphonic Poem, 1898. 


STRAUSS AT THE AGE OF 3; 


STRAUSS AT BERLIN 

In 1899 Strauss became Court Capellmeister in Berlin, 
and ever since that time the opera in the German capi- 
tal has shown the influence of his masterly work. 
Much of this may be attributed to Strauss’ willingness 
to give just as conscientious attention to a production 
of Fledermaus as to a production of his own Salonie. 
An interesting aspect of his tenancy of the post at 
Berlin is the fact that American singers were given such 
unstinted opportunities that the jealousy of German 
artists was aroused. Strauss and his talented wife 
made an American tour in 1904 when he produced his 
famous Symphonia Domestica (Opus 53). This work, 
given by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under 
Strauss, March 21st, 1904, immediately attracted inter- 
national attention. 


THE STRAUSS OPERAS 

Recollecting the remarkable experience which Strauss 
enjoyed as an opera conductor, during which most of 
the great works of the past and the present came under 
his exacting habits of study, it is not surprising that 
we find his next triumphs in the operatic field. His one- 
act opera, entitled Feuersnoth, produced in 1901, indi- 
cated big possibilities but with the production of the 
Strauss musical setting of the Oscar Wilde version of 
the Biblical story of Salome, it was soon seen that the 
operatic stage had a new and powerful master. Salome 
was first produced at Dresden, December 9th, 1905. 
This was followed by such notable works as Elektra, 
Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Josefs- 
legende. 

THE POSITION OF STRAUSS 

While Strauss has attained success in almost all 
branches of musical composition it is of course very 
clear to all who know his works that his greatest fame 
must rest upon his symphonic poems and his operas. 
This has been so favorably received that his works in 
smaller forms have perhaps been slighted. Many of 
the Strauss songs are very delightful and the Serenade. 
Die Nacht, Allerseelen and others have been popular. 
Strauss has written comparatively little for pianoforte, 
and aside from the very difficult Burleske with orches- 
tra and the little pieces known as Stimmungsbilder (in- 
cluding the popular Traumerci), the name of Strauss is 
little seen in the repertoire of pianists. His melodrama, 
a musical setting to accompany the reading of Tenny- 
son’s Enoch Arden is one of his most sympathetic and 
effective works. 

A series of contem- 
porary estimates of 
Strauss appeared in a 
number of the Allgemcine 
Musik Zeitung (October, 
1912), in which we find 
the following: 

CARL GOLDMARK: 
“Strauss is an eminently 
artistic and strong per- 
sonality of the greatest 
talent.” 

VINCENT D’ INDY: 
“Strauss seems to me to 
follow the path of Ber- 
lioz more than any other 
in his symphonic poems. 
I cannot see any particu- 
lar advance in his oper- 
atic works insofar as true 
German music drama is 
concerned, as in_ his 


THE BIRTHPLACE OF 
STRAUSS IN MUNICH 


works everything is 
planned and built upon 


the same prodigious and magnificent lines as in the 
case of Richard Wagner.” 

G. Scampatti: “Richard Strauss is without doubt a 
personality of the greatest importance in the musical 
development of our times, but we are yet too near to 
prophesy what his effect will be upon the progress of 
the art. From the technical standpoint would it not 
perhaps be better to seek out new paths rather than to 
follow those of Richard Wagner? Was it not a bless- 
ing that after the Netherland composers came Pales- 
trina and after Bach came a Haydn?” 

CuristiAN SINDING: “Richard Strauss has broadened 
the whole horizon of music.” 

Max Recer: “To me Strauss is the brilliant fulfill- 
ment of the art principles which Franz Liszt gave to 
the world.” 

GeorG SCHUMANN: “Strauss’ greatest significance 
to me lies in his broadening of our means of musical 
expression and in his brilliant employment of orchestral 
materials.” 


THE ORIGINALITY OF STRAUSS 


Originality is always a convenient target for mediocre 
intellects. Let a man strive for originality, it matters 
not how sincere his convictions, there will at once 
arise a veritable army of old-fashioned and decadent 
thinkers who reach out for convenient verbal weapons 
to attack the young innovator. When Strauss first at- 
tracted attention he was besieged by critics who told 
us that he was guilty of formlessness. Despite the long 
efforts of Wagner, Liszt and others to liberate them- 
selves from conventional forms Strauss found his own 
position quite as closely prisoned as his predecessors. 
Again he had to struggle to overcome those who ridi- 
culed program music. 

Mr. Ernest Newman, in his excellent little book en- 
titled Richard Strauss, points out the difference be- 
tween “absolute” music and “program” music in the 
following very clear manner: 

“Roughly speaking, there are two kinds of musical 
idea; the one is self-existant and self-sufficient, refer- 
ring to nothing external in itself, and requiring no 
knowledge of anything but itself for the full under- 
standing of it; the other is prompted by some previous 
literary or pictorial concept and can only be fully under- 
stood in conjunction with this. At the one extreme 
stand musical ideas like those of the average fugue, or 
the ‘subjects’ of a Mozart symphony; at the other ex- 
treme stand ideas like those of the song or the opera. 
Midway between these two there lies a peculiar kind 
of musical idea that is not actually associated with 
words—as in the opera or the song—but which, though 
it exists only a purely instrumental form, really owes 
its being to the desire to represent in music some other 
idea non-musical in its origin. It is when 
the composer of poetic music comes to work upon a 
scheme that involves much incident that he realizes the 
difficulty of making his poetic and musical develop- 
ment run on the same lines. It is this difficulty that 
Strauss has come nearer solving than any other com- 
poser of symphonic poems, partly because he has mostly 
been judicious in the selection of his poetic material, 
partly because of the extraordinary fertility of resource 
he has shown in the musical tissue of his work.” 

The originality of Strauss is wholly different from 
the originality of Debussy in that Strauss has extended 
his musical sphere through the use of materials em- 
ployed in large measure by his predecessor. More 
daring in his employment of dissonances than Richard 


Wagner and more prodigious in his prescriptions for’ 


orchestral amplification than Berlioz he became the 
musical colossus of his times. There is a breadth and 
force to the works of Strauss which calls for all the 
power of the modern orchestra and the din which ac- 
companied the productions of Elektra apparently went 
to the extreme. 


A STRAUSS PROGRAM 


A Strauss program cannot be given with justice with- 
out the full resources of a symphony orchestra and an 
opera house. Certain of the Strauss songs have popu- 
larity and certain of his piano pieces are played with 
pleasure by his admirers, Yet an evening of Strauss 
with only the piano, the voice and the violin, would be 
difficult to arrange to please the average audience. The 
Stimmungsbilder are attractive and the songs which ap- 
pear in album form contain at least four which are 
always acceptable to audiences: Allerseelen, Opus 10, 
No. 8; Breit uber mein Haupt Mein Schwartses Haar, 
Opus 19, No. 2; Die Nacht, Opus 10, No. 2, and Stand- 
chen, Op. 17, No. 2. The sonata for violin and piano 
contains some very beautiful passages and may be 
ranked with the most representative works of Strauss. 


58 


STRAUSS THE SUPER-MAN 


Nothing has typified the nature of the intellectual 
progress of Germany more than Strauss. He has felt 
himself free to break down all conventions and yet he 
realizes the need for giving proper values to the old 
traditions and the masterpieces of the music of yester- 
day. Indeed he has likened the progress of German 
ideals to the airships that pierce the clouds. “Since our 
period has been discovered the airship. Since the aero- 
plane, Zeppelins and Parsevals are always on the in- 
crease, and these majestic birds themselves climb higher 
and higher in the atmosphere, we pilgrims of the earth 
should find our thoughts soaring. We have received 
from the Maker of all things an inspiring force, a 
strong, soulful, heavenly power which should exalt us 
over the clouds to God Himself.” 

Strauss the man has all the simple naturalness of the 
German savant. While his music has caused a world- 
wide furore, he remains unostentatious in his attire, 
his utterances and his whole mode of life. Indeed he 
resembles the average German business man in his 
dress, and were it not for his impressive countenance, 
it would be difficult to believe in meeting him that he 
was indeed the great master who had created such com- 
positions. With the picture of Richard Wagner in our 
minds and the constant striving for effect, not only on 
the stage but in his clothes, his writings and in his 
home, we have in Strauss a totally different type of 
man. 

Perhaps one of the best appreciations of Strauss 
comes from the pen of Dr. Hans Huber, the most noted 
of the present-day Swiss composers. He writes in the 
symposium from which we have already quoted: 

“Musicians are all of one mind upon the wonderful 
symphonies of Strauss. He has brought the ideals of 
Berlioz and Liszt to the highest possible point. The 
crescendo from the Italian Symphony of Strauss to his 
Domestica Symphony has only been paralleled by Beet- 
hoven. 

Kew Germans, however, would admit that the operas 
of Strauss were not wholly and totally Teutonic. How- 
ever, the well-versed observer must see that in his 
operatic works Strauss has stepped beyond the bounds 
of his own national conventions and accomplished a 
work which appeals alike to the people of other coun- 
tries quite as much as to the people of Germany. 
Indeed, the success of the Strauss operas in America 
testifies to that when we take into consideration their 
musical dimensions and the severe strain upon the 
players and singers. 


THE PROGRESS OF STRAUSS 

As has previously been intimated, the progress of 
Strauss has been most marked. One of the critics of 
his own country (Gustav Brecher) marks six consecu- 
tive epochs of advancement. Three periods in the devel- 
opment of Verdi have been plainly distinguished by all 
who have made themselves familiar with his works. 
The Strauss works, however, do not have those charac-: 
teristics which make the change from one period to 
another evident to any one but the most acute observer. 
The biographer of Strauss in the Grove dictionary pos- 
sibly oversteps the mark in attacking Salome by saying, 
“there is no doubt that on the average hearer it pro- 
duces a sense of nausea.” 
He is also attacked for 
introducing Denza’s fa- 
mous tune, Funiculi, 
Funicula, in his sym- 
phonic fantasia Aus 
Italien, under the as- 
sumption that it was an 
Italian folk song. But 
other masters have em- 
ployed folk-song material 
and have appropriated 
the themes without at- 
tempting to discover who 
were the original com- 
posers. To deny the 
monumental eminence of 
Strauss or to question his 
methods is to indicate a 
lack of comprehension. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. What famous Wagnerian Music Drama was produced 
about the time of the birth of Richard Strauss? 
2. Is Richard Strauss related to the famous Viennese 
family of the same name? 
3. When was Strauss born, and where? 
4. With whom did he study? 
5. What did Rheinberger say of Strauss? 
A 6. When was Strauss’ first Symphony performed in 
merica ? 
7. Name five famous Strauss tone poems. 
8. What are the best known operas of Strauss? 
9. What is Strauss’ position in the musie world to-day? 
10. Has Strauss been favorably received by all erities? 


RICHARD STRAUSS AND HIS 
SISTER, 


lit i a: i 


impressed any of them with his future possi- 


to his. whole life. 


ee ee 
SUNMUONUNVGNUUUNONEULNUEREUUCICCUHIOROARUGGGUULGORAUEREEOAUACURALOTONGOUUAUANGUNDNGTEONEEEUUCHONREQUEUONEROURROUNERRENEQREUGUUULEOLUGLOLONUOQGQUCONOUOPCGDUNLGOOUGLAAGAGOOUGANELOORICOONQCGDOQCHDOOODDIIOTIOERONGTLEGRLUCHUROEOQQUONEGUQRNGOQDOORUREDUGUOQUATAGDOQONANURON HL TTT TT 


cn A 


' ae 


AA e 


: 


TCHAIKOWSKY’S PERIOD. 

In the biography of Rubinstein of this series 
the history of Russia is outlined so that the 
reader may obtain an idea of those conditions 


. . . . f] 
which existed in the land of the Czar in the early 4 y 
Ry) 


part of the last century. Although Rubinstein 

died the year following the death of Tchaikow- 

sky, he was born eleven years before the great Rus- 
sian composer. The difference of a decade at such 
a significant moment inf musical history meant much. 
During Rubinstein’s boyhood, for instance, Wag- 
ner was just commencing to be known. During the 
boyhood of Tchaikowsky Wagner and all that the name 
implies was the talk of the musical world. Great 
changes were taking place in music. The influence of 
Glinka in demanding attention for the Russian national 
character in music was beginning to be felt, and al- 
though Tchaikowsky does not by any means represent 
the remarkable development of the rich folk materials 
to be found in the compositions of Borodin, Mous- 
sorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Tanieff and Glazounoff, his 
works do indicate an originality and character reflecting 
his nationality in much greater measure than the com- ~ 
positions of Rubinstein, which were unmistakably cast 
in a German mould. 


TCHAIKOWSKY’S ANCESTRY AND YOUTH. 
How fortunate it is that every great man has a sym- 
pathetic biographer. In the case of Tchaikowsky we 
are indebted to Rosa Newmarch for a most excellent 
life story and critical appreciation of the famous com- 
poser. Tchaikowsky’s father was a Russian mining 
engineer and it came about in this way that the boy 
was born in Votinsk in the province of Viatka where 
the elder Tchaikowsky was employed by the govern- 
ment. The boy’s grandfather had been a nobleman and 
his great grandfather was an officer of Cossacks. Tchai- 
kowsky’s mother (Alexandra Andreievna Assiére) was 
of French descent, her father Andrew Assiére, hav- 
ing settled in Russia when young. The mother sang 
pleasantly and played her own accompaniments but was 
by no means an accomplished musician. The father 
was in no way musical. 

At Votkinsk Tchaikowsky’s father had charge of an 
important mine and lived in magnificent style. There 
on April 25th, 1840, Peter Hich Tchaikowsky was born. 
The family remained at , Vitkinsk until 1848 when the 
father removed to St, Petersburg, where the boy was 
permitted to work with his music provided he would 
consent to adopt law as his life work. 

YOUTH AND MUSICAL ASPIRATIONS. 

Tchaikowsky’s affection for his mother was most in- 
tense. In 1854 cholera overwhelmed St. Petersburg and 
the mother became a victim. The boy was so terrifically 
shocked that this great loss at an extremely impres- 
sionable age is believed to have added a somber touch 
From that time he was a 
wholly diffetent being. 

As a boy he was not especially brilliant in 
school except in mathematics. His advance- 
ment in law was slow and labored. In 1859, 
however, he graduated from the Law School 
and was fortunate enough to secure a position 
in the ministry of justice as an official, His 
income, however, was very slender,—only fifty 
roubles a month. 

In the meantime the boy had had many 
music teachers, but does not seem to have 


One of his teachers was Rudolf 
Kundiger, now quite unknown. In those days 
musical opportunities in Russia were sur- 
prisingly limited and it is reported that when 
Tchaikowsky was twenty-one years of age he 
was still innocent of knowledge of Schumann 


bilities. 


cA ccc | 
Peter lich 1 Tchaikowsky aE 


|- 1840—-THE REAL TCHAIKOWSKY—1893 
iz ¢S> > 4 > I~ Ly 5 


“My ideal is simply to become a good coniposer.” 


and did not know how many symphonies Beethoven 
had written. At the newly established conservatory, 
Tchaikowsky took up the subject of Harmony with 
Nicholai I. Zaremba who became director of the 
Conservatory in 1867-1871. Later Tchaikowsky studied 
‘yrchestration under Rubinstein whose ideas upon the 
subject were, to say the least, both conventional and 
conservative. 


EARLY WORKS. 


Little record is made of the very earliest works of 
Tchaikowsky. One of the earliest was an overture 
called The Storm which was not published until after 
the death of the Master. Very singularly, but few of 
the people who knew Tchaikowsky as a youth ever 
imagined that he would attain great heights in music. 
There is something remarkably encouraging to those 
who start their musical work somewhat late in life in 
noting the fact that Tchaikowsky did not begin to at- 
tract attention until he was quite along in years and in 
fact did not commence to do any really serious work 
until he was in his twenties. The young composer 
won the friendship of Serov, whose works he regarded 
with the highest admiration and ranked higher than 
Richard Wagner. Sorov helped the ambitious Tchai- 
kowsky in many ways. 


S iB S) LS 
== esto ‘ 


When Nicholas Rubinstein founded the Con- 
servatory at Moscow he endeavored to secure 
Serov as his teacher of theory but was unable 
to do so and Anton Rubinstein recommended 
Tchaikowsky for the post. The young man ac- 
cepted and was appointed in 1866. In the same 
year he produced his first symphony and _ his 
efforts to secure adequate performances were baffled by 
Rubinstein who had not the foresight to see in Tchai- 
kowsky a composer who would transcend in popularity 
all of the Russian writers of the time. 


A BROKEN ROMANCE. 


In 1868 Tchaikowsky, by dint of an enormous amount 
of labor outside of his regular prolonged hours of 
teaching, had produced works of decided interest which 
could not remain ignored. .Among them was his second 
symphony based in part upon the folk songs of Little 
Russia, and the descriptive works, Romeo and Juliet, 
The Tempest, and an overture of a festival character 
upon the Danish National Hymn. His married sister 
proved a fine friend to him and entertained him for 
long periods at her home in the country. In the same 
year he chanced to meet Désirée Artot, a French opera 
singer (pupil of Viardot-Garcia and Lamperti) who 
had gone to St. Petersburg as the star of an opera 
company. She was considerably older than Tchaikow- 
sky but this did not deter him from asking her to be 
his wife nor did it keep her from accepting. Her 
mother and Tchaikowsky’s father advised the young 
man to wait for a few years until he could insure him- 
self a competence rather than undergo the humiliation 
of poverty. Early in the next year the fickle prima 
donna married a baritone at Warsaw. 


BUSY YEARS. 


After the desertion of his fiancée Tchaikowsky wisely 
buried himself in work, producing some of his most 
noteworthy compositions. Among these were an opera 
Undine (much different in style from his previous work 
The Voyevode), a symphonic poem, another opera, 
The Oprichnik, a string quartet, Opus 11; the piano- 
forte concerto in B flat minor; a musical setting of the 
Snow Maiden; a comic opera, Vakoula and the Smith, 
and the Third Symphony. He was also the music critic 
of a leading paper, the Russky Viedomosti, and taught 
most all day long although he was said to have found 
teaching extremely distasteful. The natural result of 
this was complete nervous breakdown, compelling him 
to go to Vichy, France, for the cure. On the way he 
passed some time at Beyreuth acting as critic for his 
paper. He was so utterly spent with all his exertions 
that he returned to Russia convinced that his end was 
approaching. His compositions were not meeting with 
the favor he had -expected and the future seemed a 
dismal one. Only the cheering presence of his sister 
kept him from complete desperation. 


A SINGULAR MARRIAGE. 


TCHAIKOWSKY’S DRAWING-ROOM AT KLIN. 


59 


A phase of eccentricity difficult to under- 
stand is seen in the singular marriage of 
Tchaikowsky with “a woman with whom I am 
not the least in love,” and his very odd rela- 
tions with another woman to whom he was 
greatly attached but whom he never met. The 
first of these women Antonina Ivanovna 
Milyukova apparently fell wildly in love with 
the rising composer and besieged him» with 
letters courting his attentions. He called upon 
her and explained that he had no affection for 
her whatever, and that marriage was impos- 
sible. She persisted to such an extent that 
Tchaikowsky was convinced that her happi- 
ness would be blighted unless he took it upon 
himself to marry her. He represented his 
nervous ailment and uncertain future in such 
a way that she might be prejudiced against him 


but she would have none 
of it and Tchaikowsky 
was apparently led as a 
kind of sacrifice to his 
principles to the altar. 
After marriage life im- 
mediately proved insuf- 
ferable, and Tchaikow- 
sky was compelled to 
run away from his wife 
and return to St. Pe- 
tersburg where he was 
taken ill and remained 
unconscious for forty- 
eight hours. 

His other affinity was 
quite as extraordinary. 
Mme. Nadejda _ Filare- 
tovna von Meck was the 
widow of an engineer 
and the mother of eleven children. Although she 
never met Tchaikowsky, they corresponded at very 
frequent intervals in the most intimate manner. Learn- 
ing of Tchaikowsky’s poverty through a young violinist 
she set about to help him so that he might give more 
time to composition. It was difficult to approach so 
sensitive a person upon so delicate a matter but the 
well-to-do widow succeeded in persuading him to accept 
a yearly allowance. 

Tchaikowsky left Russia and lived for a time in 
Switzerland and Italy. After a year his health was re- 
stored and the results of this “rest” were The Fourth 
Symphony and parts of Eugen Oniegin. This was fol- 
lowed by The Maid of Orleans and other most interest- 
ing works, 


TCHAIKOWSKY'S FATHER, 


TARDY APPRECIATION. 

All that Tchaikowsky accomplished was done in the 
face of incessant disappointment. In America and in 
England there had been some signs of enthusiastic ap- 
preciation, but in Russia, Germany, Austria and France, 
almost every thing that this great master wrote was 
received very coldly. This must have affected him 
greatly as he was so intensely emotional that when 
his friend Nicholas Rubinstein died he gave up com- 
position for many months. In 1883 he completed his 
opera Mazeppa based upon a tale of Poushkin. The 
first performance at Moscow was so lacking in enthu- 
siasm that Tchaikowsky escaped the humiliation of at- 
tending a second performance at St. Petersburg by run- 
ning away to Paris. The Czar, however, called him 
back to the Russian capital and presented him with 
the order of St. Vladimir. Shortly thereafter Eugen 
Oniegin was given at the Royal Opera House and the 
public showed signs of awakening appreciation. Tchai- 
kowsky after such interminable neglect was more than 


delighted. The result was that he took a new interest - 


in all things,—even accepting offers to conduct his own 
works. New friends came to him with this radical 
change in his mental attitude toward the world. Carl 
Halir, Emil Sauer, Sophie Menter, Liadov, Edvard 
Grieg and others became his artistic intimates. 

Meanwhile the composer’s reputation was spreading 
very rapidly. The great Russians, Tanieff, Balikirev, 
Rimsky-Korsakoff and Ippolitov-I[vanov and others be- 
came strong champions of their colleague. On a tour 
to Southern Russia Tchaikowsky was surprised to be 
the recipient of great honors. At one concert he was 
crowned with a silver wreath. He deplored the fact 
that his reputation forced him to go on extended tours 
when he might be at home working. His concerts in 
Paris, London and Berlin were very conspicuous steps 
in his musical advance. (1888.) The Fifth Symphony 
as well as the music to Pique-Dame and The Sleeping 
Beauty added much to his fame. Another tour in 1889 
brought him additional honors. In 1891 he was induced 
to come to New York on the occasion of the opening 
of Carnegie Hall. In 1893 Cambridge University con- 
ferred the degree of Doctor of Music upon him. 

While in America Tchaikowsky conducted five con- 
certs in addition to the first one in New York, making 
in all four in New York, one in Philadelphia and one 
in Baltimore. He spoke of the musical work in Amer- 
ica in the highest terms. Indeed his trip to this country 
seemed to invest him with new vigor and even larger 
scope for it was after his return that he completed 
his famous Casse Noisette Suite (Nut Cracker Suite) 
and the glorious Sixth S\mphony, a work that leaves 
a never to be forgotten impression upon all who hear 
it for the first time. This, the Pathetic Symphony, 
is unquestionably one of the few very great master- 
pieces of music. 


AN UNEXPECTED END. 


Mme. von Meck, suffered financial reverses and wrote 
a note to Tchaikowsky stating that she was obliged to 
discontinue his allowance, but at the same time hoping 
that he would not forget one who had long admired 
him. This last phrase touched the super-sensitive 
Tchaikowsky to the quick and in the haste of the 
moment he wrote to Mme. von Meck resenting the 
thought that she could possibly entertain such an idea. 
This resulted in a rupture of their long and remarkable 
relations during which time neither one had met the 
other. 

Tchaikowsky seemed in excellent health in the early 
part of 1893 except for occasional forebodings but late 
in October he became ill with what was thought at 
first to be indigestion but which later turned out to 
be the great scourge of Russia—cholera. Delirious with 
fever he kept continually repeating the name of Nadeja 
von Meck. In the deep of the night of November 6th. 
Tchaikowsky passed away. 

Nothing is more singular with regard to Tchaikow- 
sky than the strange lack of appreciation with which 
his works were received by his fellow countrymen. 
Even Nicholas Rubinstein, who often proved himself 
a gehuine friend to Tchaikowsky, failed to under- 
stand the greatness of his young colleague. His pur- 
blindness would be almost incredible did we not have 
Tchaikowsky’s own word for it in the following ex- 
tract from a letter written to his brother. The extract 
is taken from the excellent biography of Tchaikowsky 
by Edwin Evans, and the work referred to is the 
splendid concerto for the piano No. 1, in B flat minor, 
which the composer had taken to Nicholas Rubinstein 
for examination. 

“T had played the first movement,” says Tchaikow- 
sky. “Not a word, not an observation. If you only 
knew how uncomfortably foolish one feels when one 
places before a friend a 
dish one has prepared 
with one’s own hands, 
and he eats thereof— 
and is .silent. At least 
say something; if you 
like, find fault in a 
friendly way, but for 
Heaven’s sake, speak— 
say something, no matter 
what! But Rubinstein 
said nothing; he was 
preparing his thunder, 
and Hubert was waiting 
to see what would hap- 
pen in order to join 
this or that side. As a 
matter of fact I did not 
want any opinion on the 
artistic form of my 
work; it was only the 
purely technical side which was in question. Rubin- 
stein’s eloquent silence had a portentous meaning. It 
said to me, as it were, ‘My dear friend, how can I 
speak of details when the whole offends me?’ I took 
patience and played the concerto to the end. Again 
silence. 

“Well!’? said I, as I arose. 
vigorous stream of words from Rubinstein’s mouth. 
At first he spoke quietly, but by degrees his passion 
rose, and finally he resembled Zeus hurling thunder- 
bolts. It appeared that my concerto was worthless, and 
absolutely unplayable, that the passages were manu- 
factured and withal so clumsy as to be beyond correc- 
tion, that the composition itself was bad, trivial and 
commonplace, that I had stolen this point from some- 
body, and that one from somebody else, and that only 
two or three pages had any value, and all the rest 
should be entirely destroyed or entirely remodelled. 
‘For example, that! What is that really?’ (and then 
the offending passage would be caricatured on the 
piano), ‘and that? How is it possible?’ etc, etc. I 
cannot produce what was the worst, the accent and 
the voice with which Nicholas Rubinstein said all this. 
In short, an unbiased spectator of the scene could only 
have thought that I was stupid, untalented, and a con- 
ceited spoiler of music paper, who had the impertinence 
to show his rubbish to a celebrated man.” 

And what manner of man was this whose music had 
outlived the short-sighted vision of the great Nicholas 
Rubinstein? The same book which furnished the above 
quotation gives us an authoritative picture of his home 
life. “The management of his household,” we are told, 
“was left entirely to his servant Sofronoff, the com- 
poser being as innocent as a child in such matters. His 


60 


TCHAIKOWSKY AT 2]. 


Then sprang forth a 


brother relates that if by chance he ever did purchase 
anything for the house it was invariably of monu- 
mental uselessness. On the same authority we know 
his mode of living at that time was regularity itself. 
He rose between seven and eight and drank tea, 
mostly without anything to eat. He then read for 
some time, generally works of a philosophical character. 

Then he would go for a short walk, and his 
intentions for the day were now patent to those who 
knew him. If he had breakfasted in silence, and started 
for his walk alone, it meant that he would commence 
work on his return. 


A TCHAIKOWSKY PROGRAM. 


Tchaikowsky wrote in all ten operas, three ballets, 
six symphonies, seven symphonic poems, two masses, 
four orchestral suites, overtures, a pianoforte fantasia 
with orchestra, three concertos for pianoforte, a violin 
concerto, a sextet, much very excellent pianoforte music, 
songs, duets, pianoforte pieces and a Treatise on Har- 
mony as well as a Russian translation of Gevaert’s 
Instrumentation. 

Grade. 

1 Piano Eicut Hanps (2 pianos) Mazurka Opus 

9D Nes 10. 25003. vise ecco e gee cl ee ee 3 
2 Prano Soto, Chanson Triste Opus 40, No. 2... 3 
3. Vocat Soto, “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt”.. 5 
4 Viottn Soro, Andante Cantabile (from quartet 


Opus” 1), oon8 5 oe Nk. eee ee ee me erapeere 4 
5 Piano Soto, Sweet Reverie...........- Spe or, 3 
6 Piano Duet, Marche Militaire........c.s.e00e- 4 
7 Vocau Soto, Don Juan Serenade. saemesees en 6 
8 VioLt1n Soto, Melody in E Opus 42, No, 2.... 4 
9° Prano Sono; June ws. . dn S hic See eee 5 
10 Prano Soto, Chant Sans Paroles........... a4 


Other excellent Tchaikowsky pieces for piano are 
April (Grade 4), Dolly's Funeral (Grade 2), Funeral 
March (Grade 5), The Skylark (Grade 4), Valse 
(Grade 3), Troika (Grade 6). 

The following extract from a letter of Tchaikow- 
sky’s to Mme. von Meck gives a very illuminating 
idea of the impulses that moved him in composition: 

“Don’t believe those who would persuade you that 
musical composition is a cool, reasonable work! Music 
which comes up from the depths of a soul in the 
agitation of inspiration is the only kind which is able 
to move, stir and deeply affect. There is no doubt 
that the highest musical geniuses have sometimes 
worked without inspiration. Inspiration is a guest, 
who comes not always at one’s first call. Nevertheless, 
work has to be done continually, and the truly honest 
composer ought not to sit with clasped hands, pre- 
tending not to be in the humor to work. It is easy 
to fall into apathy and laziness, if you wait for inspira- 
tion without trying to work it up yourself. He must 
persevere, take patience and believe, and the inspiration 
will come inevitably to him who has been able to con- 
quer his apathy. “8 

“T have learned to control myself. Iam happy that I am 
not following in the steps of my Russian brothers, who 
suffering from disillusion 
and lacking persever- 
ance prefer rest, and 
abandon their work at the 
first difficulty. This is the 
reason why they write 
so little and in the style 
of dilettanti, although 
they are highly gifted. 

“You asked me how I 
set about the work of 
instrumentation. I never 
compose in an abstracted 
manner, that is to say, 
that my musical ideas 
come to me in their own 
proper form. In this 
way I invent the musical 
idea at the same time as 
its instrumentation.” 


TCHAIKOWSKY’S MOTHER. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Name some eminent Russian composers contemporary 
with Tchaikowsky. 

2. When and where was Tchaikowsky born? 

3. With what famous Russian did Tchatkowsky study? 

4. Where was Tchaikowsky’s first post as a teacher? — 

5. Tell something of the romance that disturbed Tchai- 
kowsky’'s early work. 

6. Give some facts regarding Tchaikowsky’s remarkable 
marriage. . 

7. When did Tchaikowsky visit America? 

8. Was Tchaikowsky recognized by his colleagues? 

9. Name some of the leading works of Tchaikowsky. 

10. When and where did Tchaikowsky die? 


—_ 


N 


AT tin 


OS a 


jx 


- 


VERDI’S EPOCH. 
Mopern Iraty—Italy as a united land—is about 
one-third as old as the United States. It was 
not until about 1871 that the numerous warring 
kingdoms, duchies, principalities and tiny repub- 
lics had been wrought into one nation. Garibaldi, 
‘Cavour and Mazzini, forceful patriots all, succeeded 
in bringing the House of Savoy into power. A 
new Italy arose. Prior to that time insurrections, 
revolutions, border warfare and political crime had 
been the story of the old Italy. Whether . social 
unrest really has a bearing upon the development of 
the most peaceful and esthetic of arts is hard to 
determine, but it is certain that in many countries 
where music has flourished it has grown side: by side 
with the horrors of war. That Verdi was born in such 
a country and that he spent his youth surrounded by the 
spirit of revolution has been regarded by many as one 
of the reasons for his virility and long continued 
activity. 
VERDI’S BIRTH. 


In a tiny room of a little inn at Le Rancole, a village in 
the Duchy of Parma, Giuseppe Verdi was born, October 10, 
1813. Verdi's father kept a small grocery shop in one of the 
rooms of the inn. Here among the rows of drugs, spices, 
tobacco, matches, sugar and coffee Carlo Verdi and his wife, 
Luigia (Utini), lived a life of commonplace mediocrity, never 
dreaming that they were to have a son who would be com- 
memorated by monuments all over the civilized world. 

About one year after the birth of the little Verdi, Aus- 
trian and Russian troops passed through Le Rancole, car- 
rying destruction and murder at every step. The women 
and children of the town hid in the little church. As the 
soldiers broke in the mother mounted to the belfry with the 
infant in her arms and there hid among the rafters until 
the soldiers had gone. 


VERDI’S EARLY MUSICAL EFFORTS. 


Among the belongings of the Verdi family was a 
precious little spinet that the great master preserved 
to the end of his days. Although the instrument was a 
poor one, it was doubtless all the family could afford. 
Once a poor instrument maker made over the instru- 
ment and inscribed in it the words: 

“T, Stephen Cavaletti, have made these jacks anew 
and have covered them with leather and fitted the pedal 
and these together with the jacks, I have given gratis, 
seeing the good disposition of the boy Giuseppe Verdi 
for learning to play the instrument, which is in itself 
sufficient reward to pay me for my trouble.” 

Verdi’s first teacher was the local organist Bais- 
trocchi, who at the end of a year exhausted himself 
upon his pupil and confessed to the father that he 
could teach the boy nothing more. How true this was 
“may be judged from the fact that the ten-year-old 
“student succeeded his master as organist of the church 
at Le Rancole. In order to secure a common school 
education the boy went to Busseto, where he boarded 
with a friend of his father. Every Sunday he walked 
all the way back to Le Rancole to play the organ, and 
after the last service in the evening returned to Busseto. 
In Busseto Verdi was fortunate enough to become the 
protege of one Barezzi, who was the leading patron of 
“music in the little city. In Barezzi’s home Verdi came 
to know his future teacher, Provesi, maestro di capella 
and organist of the cathedral. Verdi studied with 
Provesi until he was sixteen years of age. Then with 
the assistance of Barezzi and a public fund in Busseto 
Verdi went to Milan. In Milan he was actually re- 
fused at the conservatory because the examining board 
came to the conclusion that he was lacking in musical 
talent. Verdi, however, determined to go on in spite 
of this academic stupidity. His next teacher was the 
able musician Lagavno, and with him Verdi remained 
for two years. In 1833 Provesi died and Verdi re- 
turned to Busseto to remain for five years. 


A RUINOUS DECISION. 
Verdi naturally expected that he would be the successor 
‘of Provesi, but the authorities at the church had gotten the 
iden that Verdi was only a fashionable composer and knew 


= 


Verdi 


Sige 


OL} 


TTT et TTT? 


HPQUUNDUMREDIVOGOUGURRDOUURRUORAGANOEUICOUDCCUARGHDIGRDURAGDUNULONGURONU 


1813—The Real Verdi—1901 


nothing of music outside of “profane” or operatic music. 


Consequently Verdi was blackballed, and thereupon the 
Philharmonic Society, which had always participated in the 
services of the church, entered the sacred edifice and rifled 
the archives until every scrap of musie belonging to the 
society had been taken away. This was the beginning of a 
kind of civil war. Insults, affrays, riots, banishments, impris- 
onments and persecutions followed in its train. Hventually 
the Philharmonic Society was prohibited to meet. 


VERDI’S FIRST PERIOD. 


It is the custom of biographers of Verdi to divide 
his life as a composer into ‘three periods. The second 
period is represented as beginning with the operas 
Traviata, Rigoletto and Trovatore, and the third period 
with the opera Aida. Verdi’s first period may be said 
to commence with the composition of his opera Oberto, 
Conte di San Bonifacio, written shortly after his mar- 
riage to Margherita Barezzi, daughter of his patron. 
Oberto was produced at La Scala with some success. 
On top of this, however, disastrous misfortunes fell to 
Verdi. Within a few months Verdi’s wife and two 
children died. He was practically penniless and alone 
in the world. He had a commission to write a comic 
opera, to be called Um Giormo di Regno. He finished 
the task, but under the circumstances it seems hardly 
necessary to state that the opera was a complete failure. 
Verdi then determined to abandon his career, but the 
impresario Merelli persuaded him to go on. This re- 


Verpi’s BrrTHPLACcEe 


61 


cA 


would not take no for an answer. 


TUTE TTT re 


} 


sulted in the opera Nabucco, produced in March, 
1842. It was an immediate and big success. 

Verdi’s own narrative of his difficulty in per- 
fecting Nabucco is very interesting. At first he 
absolutely refused to have anything to do with 
it. But Merelli locked the door upon him and 
Next the librettist 
Solera had to. be reckoned with. He refused to make 
changes that Verdi desired, and the composer turned 
the trick on him by locking the librettist in a room 
until he had made the alterations wanted. 

February 11, 1843, saw the début of another notable 
Verdi opera of the first period, J Lombardi alla prima 
Crociata. This met the displeasure of the Archbishop, 
who feared that the profane subject might be detri- 
mental to his work. He endeavored to suppress it, but 
Verdi persisted in having it go on as it was written 
and the opera became the most successful opera of 
Verdi’s first period, unless we except Ernani, which was 
produced at the Fenice theatre in Venice in 1844. By 
this time Verdi’s fame was well established, and this 
new work upon the popular subject of Victor Hugo’s 
Hernani carried his name to many distant cities. Here 
again, however, the acute political situation in Italy 
was reflected in the manner in which the opera was in- 
terrupted by the police during its rehearsals. Such a 
thing as a conspiracy upon the stage was regarded as 
dangerous and Verdi was compelled to change the 
opera considerably to comply witk the pleasure of the 
police. During the next two years the musical world 
was treated to an exhibition of Verdi's fertility, for no 
less than four operas were produced. Jdue Foscari 
(1844), Giovanna d’arco (1845), Alzsir (1845), Atilla. 
In Atilla the political pulse of a country already at a 
fever heat was greatly inflamed. At its first perform- 
ance there was a veritable riot of noise. The audience 
drowned out the orchestra and singers, and screamed, 
howled, clapped and stamped until it was exhausted. 
The police tried frantically to restore order amid a 
shower of umbrellas, hats, flowers, books and in fact 
everything at hand that was movable and could be 
used as a missile. Austria was then the governing power 
of that section of Italy. It is hardly necessary to note 
that Verdi was looked upon as a disturber of the peace. 

Following this success apparently deserted. Verdi for 
a time since his operas Macbeth (Florence, 1847), 
I Masnaderi (London, 1847), Il Corsaro (Trieste, 1848) 
and La Battaglia di Legano (Rome, 1849) were all 
failures. Fortune returned with the production of 
Luisa Miller, an opera written upon the plot of Schiller’s 
Kabale und Liebe. This was produced in Naples in 
1849 and is looked upon by many as the beginning of 
Verdi’s second or more important period. However, 
Verdi was not yet to be assured of the constant suc- 
cess made by his later operas, for his Sitiffelio, pro- 
duced November 16, 1850, at Trieste, was a flat failure. 


VERDI’S SECOND PERIOD. 


The irritating political conditions which had influ- 
enced nearly every step in the life of Verdi continued 
to harass him in the writing of the first great master- 
piece of the second period, Rigoletto. It was suggested 
that Verdi make a musical setting of Victor Hugo’s 
Le Roi s’amuse. The police saw at once the ridiculous 
position in which a king (Francois 1) would be placed 
upon the stage. Accordingly the whole dramatis 
personae was renamed. The king became a petty duke 
and the other characters assumed relatively unimportant 
positions. This, however, did not affect the success of 
the opera, which has remained for over sixty years a 
great favorite wherever Italian opera is sung. Rigoletto 
was first produced at Venice, March 11, 1851. It is 
reported that the opera was completed in forty days. 

The next great success was the ever popular // 
Trovatore, produced at Rome in 1853. This was 
quickly followed by La Traviata, in Venice (1853). 
Il Trovatore .was immediately successful, but Traviata 
(like Mme. Butterfly in recent years) was a fiasco at 


ie 


edifice, richly decorated with art works pertaining: to 


forceful and as sprightly as if it had been the first 
music. It bears a strange contrast to the humble stone- | 


work of a vigorous youth. Although these two operas 


first. Verdi was greatly 
disheartened, but realized 


that the actors had had 
more to do with the 
failure than the music. 
The tenor was half sick 
with a cold and the so- 
prano, who was supposed 
to act the part of the 
dying Camille in this 
musicalsetting of Dumas’ 
play, was so obese that 
when the physician as- 
sured her that she was 
wasting away with con- 
sumption the audience 
broke into a roar, 

Traviata was followed 
by Les Véspres Sicili- 
ennes, produced in Paris 
in 1855, and Simone 
Boccanegra, produced in 1857 in Venice. Neither of 
these operas are customarily ranked among Verdi's 
greatest operas, 

Another political travesty took place when Un Ballo 
in Maschera was produced at Rome, 1859. The original 
title, Gustavo III, was very unsatisfactory to the police, 
as indeed were other passages in the opera. Verdi re- 
fused to make the changes and the manager of the 
theatre immediately threatened suit for $50,000.00. 
Verdi's independence, in spite of the unpopular govern- 
ment, had made him a hero, and wherever he appeared 
in the streets he was followed by a crowd shouting 
Viva Verdi. This had an even deeper significance, be- 
cause the King of Sardinia was becoming very popular 
throughout Italy and was then upon the wave of 
fortune which later established him as King of Italy. 
This same Victor Emanuel was hailed in the word 
Verdi, which was considered by many as an abbreviation 
of the words “Vittorio Emmanuele Re D’Italia” 
(V.E.R.D.1), Victor Emanuel King of Italy. There- 
fore the ridiculous expedient of making Gustavus III 
the Governor of Boston was mee, and the opera was 
produced with success, but with no less advertisement 
of the smouldering revolution which was soon to be the 
remaking of Italy. 

Verdi’s next operas were La Forza del Destino 
(St. Petersburg, 1862) and Don Carlos (Paris, 1867). 
Neither of these reached the heights of melodic inven- 
tion represented by Rigoletto, Trovatore and Traviata. 
Meantime, conditions in the operatic world were 
changing noticeably. The public that had repudiated 
the music dramas of Wagner were beginning to realize 
that the German master was unfolding a new form 
of operatic art. Wagner’s works were being produced 
at more and more theatres and operatic conditions in 


Verpi at Forty 


Paris were altering noticeably in favor of the rising - 


school of French composers. All these forces must 
have influenced Verdi greatly, for we now find him 
entering his third period when he was to do his great- 
est work—a work even more remarkable because of 
the fact that the great Italian master was now ap- 
proaching old age. 


VERDI’S THIRD PERIOD. 


About the time of the opening of the Suez Canal, 
Ismail Pascha, Khedive of Egypt, planned to inaugu- 
rate his fine new opera house. Unlike many East- 
ern potentates, Ismail was a man of fine discernment, 
excellent taste and good judgment. Accordingly, he 
applied to Verdi to write the opera. Verdi named a 
sum far in excess of what he believed the Khedive 
would pay, as the composer was not inclined to un- 
dertake the task. No objection was raised to the 
price, and Verdi finally accepted the task, and his most 
spectacular work was the result. The original sketch 
of the story was prepared by a great French Egyptol- 
ogist, Mariette Bey. The idea of laying the scene 
back in ancient Memphis and Thebes proved highly 
successful from the artistic standpoint. Verdi re- 
ceived $16,000 for the work, but positively refused very 
tempting offers to .go to Cairo and conduct the opera 
in person at the opening, November 24th, 1871. Soon 
thereafter the opera was produced in Milan, and re- 
mains to-day one of the most popular pieces in the 
repertoire. 

Still more remarkable than Aida are the operas 
Otello (La Scala, Milan, Feb. 5th, 1887, and Falstaff 
(La Scala, Milan, Feb. 9th, 1893). The latter, pro- 
duced when Verdi was eighty years old, is unques- 
tionably the most unusual example of musical creative- 
ness in old age the world has ever known. It is as 


show that Verdi had recognized full well the ascend- 
ency of the wonderful music dramas of Richard Wag- 
ner, they are not influenced by the methods of Wagner 
except indirectly. 
own musical style. Compared with Verdi’s earlier 
works they represent a different and superior order of 
craftsmanship, and as art works of a highly organized 
and subtle character they rank with the great produc- 
tions of the masters of all nationalities. 


VERDI’S OTHER WORKS. 


Outside of Verdi’s thirty operas very little is known 
of his other works excepting the beautiful Manzoni 
Requiem. How this came to be makes interesting read- 
ing. When Rossini died in 1868 it was suggested that 
thirteen representative Italian composers each take it 
upon themselves to write the different parts of a mass 
in honor of the famous composer who had passed 
away. When these different sections were composed 
and brought together it was realized that the effect as 
a whole was far from being what it should be—so the 
plan to produce the work was dropped. It is signifi- 
cant to note that of the thirteen composers partieipat- 
ing only one name remains in wide renown, and that 
is Verdi. When the Italian statesman, Manzoni, died 
Verdi was asked to compose a requiem, and in this 
requiem he used the Libera me originally written for 
Rossini. The whole work is very dramatic—which, in 
a measure, accounts for its success in the concert hall 
in recent years. 

Verdi’s other works are little known and consist of 
a few secular and ‘sacred songs and a string quartet. 
Regarding the last named, Verdi’s friend, Leandro 
Campanari, has said: “The quartet was first given in 
Genoa by my quartet, known as the Campanari Quar- 
tet. Verdi was terribly nervous over the performance 
and kept sending Ricordi, the publisher, numerous 
telegrams about the manner in which it should be 
rendered. Finally when it was performed in Genoa he 
was delighted with the work and embraced me at the 
end. It may seem ungracious, but I am forced to state 
that the quartet which Verdi regarded so highly falls 
very far below the quartets of some other masters, 
and below the musical value of all his later operas.” 


VERDI’S PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE. 

It would be difficult to conceive of a more modest, retiring 
man than Verdi. Had he wished it, all manner of honors, 
titles, cistinctions, etc., would haye been heaped upon him, 
Ile demanded that those who addressed him should use the 
simple “Signor Verdi’ and no other of the bombastic titles 
which Italian musicians of a different order sometimes affect. 
In 1860 he was elected a member of the Italian Parliament 
but retired shortly after hig election. In 1875 the King 
made him a Senator. Verdi in honor to his ruler went to 
Rome and took the oath but never sat at a single session. 
He was very fond of his little estate at Santa Agata, near 
Busseto, and there he lived the life of a gentleman farmer, 
Musie was debarred from his rural home, and it is said that 
the piano was not only frequently out of tune but often 
without strings. 

In 1859 Verdi remarried, taking for his bride the well- 
known singer Guiseppina Strepponi. They had no children. 
They lived happily together until 1897 when she passed 
away, leaving the aged composer altogether desolate. 

Verdi was of medium height, not over robust in build but 
active in all his movements, Combined with his natural 
modesty was a genial kindliness which those who met him 
never forgot. TIlis private philanthropies were the most 
notable of any musician of his time. He was always will- 
ing and glad to help others when he felt that help was 
needed and deserved. 


VERDI’S BENEFACTIONS. 

The world will never know all that Verdi did for 
his fellow man. When wealth came to him in later 
years through the good business management of the 
famous music publishing house of Ricordi, Verdi ac- 
tually sought opportunities to help the needy. After 
the production of Falstaff it is said that the powers 
that be proposed making him the Marquis of Busseto. 
Verdi replied that he did not wish to be made ridicu- 
lous, but only desired quiet and leisure to go on with 
his charitable works. 

Verdi not only remembered his old friends and 
those who had helped him in his own professional 
career, but his will was also a long record of benefac- 
tions to hospitals, homes, asylums, and the most not- 
able of all was the Casa di Ripposo (House of Rest) 
in Milan. This great monument to the famous Italian 
composer, under which his body rests, is one of the 
world’s most notable charities? It is a Home for 
Aged Musicians, accommodating between one and two 
hundred men and women. The building is a splendid 


62 


They are a development of Verdi's. 


tiled room in which the master himself was born, 
Verdi endowed the Casa di Ripposo munificently. 


THE LAST DAYS OF VERDI. 


Verdi was taken seriously ill 
early in 1901. The attention paid 
to this modest, peasant-born 
Italian was. significant of the 
emotional and patriotic character 
of his fellow countrymen. The 
King, the Ministers and the Senate 
sent regularly to his sick room to 


inquire regarding his condition. 
His favorite priest, Adelberto 
Catena, attended him frequently 


to administer the divine unction. 
Splendid friends were at hand to 
give him every comfort. The 
greatest of Italian musicians fell 
gently to sleep after severe suf- 
fering, January 27, 1901. His 
funeral was one of great pomp 
and dignity. Milan was draped 
in black from end to end. Hun- 
dreds of thousands filled the 
streets to pay their last tribute to their beloved maestro, 
The Berek convened in extraordinary session to prepare a 
memorial. 


Veropi’s Last PorTRAIT 


In_ every school throughout the length and 
breadth of Italy Verdi exercises were held so that every 
child might do honor to his memorable life. 

A VERDI PROGRAM. Cada 
1, Prano, Four Hands, Anvil Chorus “Trova- 
BOVE. viele ei ein sue blaine vadly or elele ee ok ee eae a 
2. Bass Soto, Infelice.......... RAP corse) one 
3. Vtiottn Soto, Trovatore Fantasia....... Mee Ls 
4. Piano Soto, Rigoletto (Arranged by Dorn) 5 
5. Vocat Trio, Praise Yer from@Atiidaen ee 
6. Piano Duet, Triumphal March from Aida 
(Arranged ‘by Engelmann) 7 sean ene ene 
7. Soprano Soto, Ave Maria from “Otello”.. 6 
8 Piano Soto, La Traviata (Arranged by 
Dorn) is 2esdede. cee sleet ee wee 
9. Viotin Soto, Un Ballo in Maschera (Ar- 


ranged by -Singelée) _... secu aeeieeneeenn 
Piano Soio, Misere from “Trovatore” (Ar- 
tanged by  Gottschallc)) acmmneernee in aeaney, 


ran 
S 


TEST QUESTIONS OF THE LIFE OF VERDI. 


1. Describe the period in which Verdi lived. 
2. Was Verdi precocious as a child? 
3. Who were Verdi’s teachers ? 
4. Give an ~ccount of Verdi’s experience at the Milan 
Conservatory. : 
5. What were Verdi’s greatest successes in his first period? 
6. Tell how Verdi participated in the political turmoil of 
his time. ’ 
7. What are the notable works of Verdi’s second period. 
8. Was Verdi influenced by Wagner? 
9. What are Verdi’s greatest masterpieces. 
10. Describe Verci’s charities. 


BOOKS ABOUT VERDI. 


Compared with Wagner, Beethoven or even Richard 
Strauss, little has been done to celebrate this great master 
in books. Works of a biographical character by Crowest, 
Pougin and Visetti have been published in English. One 
of the best of all the Verdi biographies is that published 
in Italian by G. Ricordi, written by G. Bragagnolo and 
I. Bettazzi, to which continual reference was made during 
the preparation of this sketch. 


VERDI AND HIS FAMOUS LiBRETTIST Borro WHO WAS ALSO | 


FAMED AS THE COMPOSER OF MEFISTOFELE 
' 


5 


= tC 


ee 


the blood of conquest, held his iron sceptre over, 


fingering was best which came 


-—an annoying handicap. 


Py 


TMUTTOVUTUUTUTVOUOLACUTOQUTONVUGUONUUTOOORUCUTUEOULTOTUVOTOROUONOORCOTAUTONOULUCNTOAOONTVUUOLUCUUMOUUUECONUUTUUCOUUOOUTVORDOVTLOMMOGRELCEALOUOCVOTERUVOOOTPOTVONUAQEUOURONAAONORTAOUOOOUOMEOORTORNROEOOOORANATORCUOOOQOEOCUONOOQCOROOAUOAUOROAOOOTOOUVOOTANNUOUNOGUOOCONLOTETOOODTVOETOD| 


TU 


AAA 


WAGNER’S PERIOD. 


War-Map Napoleon Bonaparte, drunk with 


Germany until that nation arose to put an end 
to the man whose name meant desolation. The 
fight of liberation from the war lord commenced 
in 1813, the very year of Richard Wagner’s 
birth. Indeed in Leipsic, where the great master was 
born, Napoleon’s army was held for three monstrous 
days. Then Germany was merely a loose confedera- 
tion of states in which Austria was the dominant one. 
Metternich, the Austrian politician, sought to hold all 
other German states in abeyance to Austria. Grad- 
ually Prussia, by right of might, came to be the ruling 
state. It was not, however, until Prussia had been 
engaged with Denmark, Austria and France in costly 
wars that the Prussian King William became the Ger- 
man Emperor. 

Like his contemporaries Wagner lived through these 
empire-building times, but unlike many of them he felt 
the spirit of iconoclasm,—the note of revolution which 
marked the re-making of Germany. He chose at the 
very outstart no less than Beethoven as his musical 
model, and in the drama Shakespeare was his ideal. 
Of all the great men and women of his own time 
there was none to whom Wagner bowed in artistic 
allegiance. Even Liszt, probably Wagner’s dearest 
friend and mentor, held himself in awe of his son- 
in-law. 

ANCESTRY AND EARLY YEARS. 


Richard Wagner’s father (Friedrich Wagner) and _ his 
grandfather (Gottlob Friedrich) both held inconsequential 
government positions of a clerical nature. His mother, 
Johanna Rosina Bertz, had nine children, of whom Richard 
(rightly Wilhelm Richard) was the youngest. Of these 
children the only other son to attain fame was Albert, 
who became an actor and singer of renown and later the 
stage manager at Berlin. His daughter Johanna became 2 
famous soprano, being the first Elizabeth in Tannhduser. 
Wagner’s sister, Clara, was known as a successful singer 
and his sister Johanna Rosalie achieved fame on the stage. 
In October, 1813, one of Napoleon’s earnivals of carnage 
Jeft a wall of dead men around the city of Leipsie and in 
the epidemic that naturally ensued Richard Wagner’s father 
died, leaving his wife in impoverished circumstances. With 


a large family and little means his widow married Ludwig 
Geyer, an old friend of Wagner’s father. Geyer was a 
singer, actor, portrait painter and author. His influence 


upon the career of his stepson was most marked. 


WAGNER’S EARLY YEARS. 

At “The House of the Red and White Lion” (No. 
88 Hause Brithl) Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born 
May 22, 1813. Shortly thereafter he was taken to 
Dresden, where his stepfather 
was employed in the theatre. 
At the Kreuzschule he was en- 
tered under the name of Rich- 
ard Geyer. Richard was only 
eight years old when Geyer 
died. In school the boy mani- 
fested a great talent for the 
classics and made translations 
of the first twelve books of 
Homer’s Odyssey out of school 
hours. His early creative ten- 
dencies were dramatic rather 
than musical. We learn that 
he spent two years in writing a 
tragedy in which all of the two 
and forty characters died before 
the fall of the last curtain. 

He was devoted to music but 
detested anything like regular 
practice. He preferred to pick 
things out “by ear” and that 


first. As a consequence of this 
his playing was always deficient, 
Oc- 
casionally von Weber, then 
widely acclaimed because of his 


Richard 
iP ag aa 


ce 
@, 


ne 
EDS 


TLORUARUOOALATANOVONEDYOVOADUUONDUPHNUUGHVNOONADORDOVARREDREGANOOUIUOUNGUUQRATOEONROGGOBNIVORIRGU ONIN 


1813—THE REAL WAGNER—1883 


a YES L/ KASS 
SSIES AEE EES 


“T have only a mind to live, to enjoy—t. e., to work 
as an artist, and produce my works; but not for the 
muddy brains of the common herd.” 


Der Freyschiitz, visited the home of Wagner and the 
impressionistic boy naturally aspired to be a greater 
Weber. 


WAGNER LARGELY SELF-TAUGHT. 


Returning to Leipsic in 1827 Wagner immediately fell 
under the fascination of the works of Beethoven. He 
borrowed a copy of Logier’s Science of Harmony and 
Practice of Composition, and set to work to teach 
himself. Self-study in harmony has been made more 
or iess simple by modern works but Logier’s treatise must 
have been a test of Wagner's enthusiasm. However, he 
found the very difficulties “provoking and. fascinating.” 
His first attempts at composition were made in secret, 
resulting in a sonata, a quartet and an aria. Thereafter 
for a very short time he was placed under the musical 
instruction of Gottlieb Miiller, who found it next to im- 
possible to do anything in the way of systematic teaching 
with the romantic boy. However, the young composer did 


succeed in writing an overture which was performed under 


OPENING OF THE FEST SPIELHAUS AT BEYREUTH IN 1876. 


63 


SSS 
st 
= 
— 
= 
= 


ccs 


Y A ep An 
\ SX 5s mK 


Dorn at a Leipsic theatre The orchestration of this 
was so crude that the audience howled with laughter. 

Wagner matriculated at the University of Leipsic 
attending the philosophical course. Music, however, 
claimed him again, and we find him under the in. 
struction of Theodor Weinlig, cantor of the Thomas 
Schule, with whom he remained for only six months, 
This was the last regular musical instruction Wagner 
ever had. | Thus we may say that one of the greatest 
es music spent less than one year under regular 


YUCAVAGSRATEDORREDUGCUOOONADTONORONING 


EUCS 


FIRST COMPOSITIONS. 

Wagner’s first published composition was a sonata 
which in many ways is quite as conventional as from 
Haydn or Mozart. A four hand polonaise in D followed 
and then a Fantasia in F sharp minor for piano. None 
of these works indicate the Wagner of the future. 
When he was eighteen one of his overtures was per- 
formed at the Gewandhaus and was favorably received. 
At nineteen he had written a symphony which was 
performed by the famous Leipsic orchestra in 1833. 
When Wagner presented it to Mendelssohn with the 
hope of another performance, Mendelssohn looked over 
the manuscript, tucked it away in some pigeon-hole 
and nothing was heard of it again until 1872 when 
the orchestral parts were found in an old trunk at 
Dresden. His work thus far was a kind of reflection 
of the classicalism of Mozart and Beethoven and did 


not indicate the great iconoclast of the music of the 
future. 


FIRST OPERAS. 
At the age of twenty Wagner became chorus master at 


the little theatre in Wiirzburg where his brother Albert 
was the stage manager. There he received the munificent 
salary of ten florins a month. He had already made an 
attempt at an opera which was to have been called Die 
Hochzeit (The Marriage.) While at Wiirzburg he mapped 


a second work which unlike the first was completed although 
it was not performed until 1888. In other words Die 
Feen waited just fifty-five years before its first performance 


was given at Munich. The opera has never been ranked 
with the great music-dramas of Wagner. He next sketched 
another opera entitled Das Liebesverbot (Measure for 


Measure) which also failed to bring success to’! its composer 
Wagner, however, was gaining experience very rapidly. In 
1854 he became conductor of the Magdeburg Theatre and in 


1836_ of the opera at KO6nisberg. In the latter city he 
married the actress Wilhelmine Planer, from whom he 
separated in 1861. At Kénigsberg he wrote an overture, 


“Rule Britannia,’ a companion to his Columbus ov 

t isan’ E < Ss overture 
which he had already had performed at Magdeburg. The 
pollen ie we find Wagner the conductor at Riga where 
le commenced work upon his first opera of note, i 
the last of the Tribunes. B “ig 


IN PARIS. 


Wagner set his eyes upon Paris where Meyerbeer 
was making continual triumphs 
with spectacular works, Thence 
he went in July, 1839. Part of 
the journey was by water. A 
terrific storm at sea brought to 
mind the legend of The Flying 
Dutchman, and he resolved to 
write an opera upon the subject. 
At Boulogne he met Meyerbeer, 
who spent upward of four 
weeks in advising Mendelssohn 
as to his work in Paris. AI- 
though Wagner remained in 
Paris until 1842 he left without 
making anything like the im- 
pression he had anticipated. In- 
deed the most impressive music 
he heard in the great city of 
light was the howling of the 
wolf on his door step. He was 
reduced to writing cheap songs, 
making hack arrangements for 
cornet and piano of the banal 
dances of the day. Imagine the 
composer of Parsifal laborious- 
ly writing out a piano arrange- 
ment for such an obscure work 
as Halévy’s Reine de Chypre. 


Rienzi, 


When he submitted his sketches 
for the Flying Dutchman to the 
director of the opera he was 
politely informed that the libretto 
was all right but that the music 
was impossible. Accordingly he 
was obliged to dispose of his 
libretto without the music. 
chef d’orchestre Dietsch wrote 
the music and the work when 
produced was a fiasco. 


CosIMA WAGNER. 


IN DRESDEN. 


In October, 1842, after numerous rehearsals Wagner's 
Rienzi was produced in Dresden with exceptional success. 
This opera is a more or less conventional work of spectacular 
type and had Wagner desired to continue his works in this 
line he might have lived in ease for the rest of his 
days, but that was not Wagner. He felt great creative 
functions in his imagination demanding new works for a 
new era in music. The opera-goer wanted convention rather 
than originality and the Flying Dutchman failed miserably. 
The Dresden public, however, recognized Wagner’s efficiency 
as an operatic producer and made him conductor. There 
he brought out the greatest operas of his most illustrious 
predecessors, such as Don Giovanni, Der Freyschiitz, Fidelio, 
etc., and during the six succeeding years gained vast ex- 
perience in the technic of his art. While in Dresden he 
wrote the biblical scene for three choirs entitled Das 
Liebesmahl der Apostel (The Last Supper of the Apostles). 
In 1844 his opera Tannhduser und der Sdangerkrieg auf 
Wartburg was completed. More radical than the Flying 
Dutchman, the first presentation of this opera in 1845 
brought Wagner even more enemies than his previous 
fiasco. 

The gradual development of musical taste resulted in 
making Tannhduser one of the most popular of all operas, 
yet the pitifully slow manner in which this opera was 
accepted at the start must have been soul trying to 
Wagner. After the performance in 1845, the next theatre 
to accept it was Weimar (1849), then Wiesbaden (1852), 
Kassel (1853), Munich (1855), Berlin (1856), Vienna 
(1857), ete. 


PLANNING A GLORIOUS FUTURE. 


Notwithstanding the attacks upon Tannhduser, Wag- 
ner at once commenced to plan even more complex 
and advanced works. There were Lohengrin, Die 
Meistersinger and Der Ring des Nibelungen. When 
Lohengrin was finished in 1848 Wagner found that the 
failure of Tannhduser made it next to impossible for 
him to do more than induce the operatic authorities 
to give the Finale to Act IIT. This was done as a 
special concession upon the 300th anniversary of the 
Royal Court Orchestra. The work was not given 
until 1850 (August 28) when the loyal Franz Liszt 
came to Wagner’s resctte and presented it at Weimar. 
Wagner, then in exile, dared not brave arrest to hear 
his own work. It was not until May 31, 1861, in 
Vienna that the great composer was able to hear his 
most loved work, 


Nothing daunted by these exasperating setbacks 
Wagner worked as few men who have ever lived have 
labored. In addition to his operatic works, his con- 
ducting, the writing of the dramas for his famous 
stage pieces, he in some miraculous way found time to 
produce an extraordinary number of essays upon such 
varied subjects as Art and Revolution, Art and 
Climate, Judaism in Music, Recollections of Spontini, 
Ste; 

In 1848 Wagner commenced work upon an opera, 
Siegfried's Tod (Siegfried’s Death). The greater part 
of it was said to have been used later in Gétterdam- 
erung (The Twilight of the Gods). 


Meantime, Wagner began to see that, in order to 
carry out his lofty artistic ideals, he would need some- 
thing more than the conventional theatre. He longed 
for a building erected upon his own lines where he 
might reign supreme. Accordingly, he presented to 
the Saxon Ministry a ‘Proposition for a National 
Theatre in the Kingdom of Saxony.” Wagner’s appli- 
cation remained unanswered. 


IN EXILE. 


The repression of his ambitions 
led Wagner to take sides with the 
Revolutionary movement. In 1848 
the people of Saxony sought larger 
civic liberties. They demanded among 
otheg things trial by Jury, a free 
press and most of all a constitution. 
Wagner himself even went so far as 
to advise the abolition of the stand- 
ing army and the aristocracy. He 
was particularly vehement against 
just the kind of militarism which 
later fathered so many tragic days 
in Europe. The final crash came in 
1849 when the King of Saxony dis- 
solved the “Diet.” The people re- 


WaAGNER’S MorTHeER. 


The 


volted at once and bloodshed commenced, The Prussians, 
however, put the revolutionists to flight and the cause of 
Republicanism in Saxony was lost. Wagner was forced to 
escape and could think of no better place than Weimar 
where his friend Liszt greeted him with open arms. Liszt 
was preparing Tannhiiuser for performance, but on the 
morning of the day of the first performance Wagner was 
forced to flee again to escape arrest. Accordingly, he went 
to Par's, via Zurich. His stay in Paris was very short as 
he saw slender prospects for the production of his operas. 
He returned to Zurich for a stay of approximately ten 
years—the most productive years of his life. With little 
or no direct income, both he and his wife were obliged to 
depend upon the benefactions of friends to a great extent. 
Ilis wife tried to persuade him to write an opera in popular 
style to meet Parisian favor, but Wagner would have none 
of it.. One of his first works in Zurich was a prose drama, 
Wieland, der Schmeidt. By 1852 he had finished the poems 
of the Nibelungen Trilogy, which were published privately 
in the succeeding year. In 1854 he completed Das Rhein- 
gold, in 1856 Die Walkiire, and Tristan und Isolde in 1859. 
In the meanwhile he found time to conduct concerts, pro- 
duce Tannhduser in Zurich and deliver occasional lectures 
upon the music drama, to say nothing of writing an un- 
heard of number of most interesting letters. In 1855 he 
conducted eight concerts for the London Philharmonic 
Society. Wagner found the public enthusiastic, but the 
critics hidebound and cold. Consequently he was glad to 
leave England. 

He returned to Zurich via Paris. By this time Wagner 
had become very popular in certain parts of America and 
Wagner nights were frequently given in Boston at the 
very hour when doubting Europe was doing much to frus- 
trate its great genius. Wagner, however, was not tempted 
by the invitation to visit America alhough he needed money 
badly. 


MORE TRIALS. 


In 1861 by special order of the Emperor Tannhiuser 
was brought out in Paris amid such an uproar as was 
probably never heard in a theatre. The French would 
not put up with a radical German work at that time. 
After three disastrous 
performances the work 
was withdrawn. Wag- 
ner was then fortunately 
amnestied and learned 
with joy that Tristan 
und Isolde was about to 
be produced in Vienna. 
This hope was banished 
when he learned that 
after 57 rehearsals the 
work was given up as 
impracticable. Neverthe- 
less, the joy of hearing 
his Lohengrin performed 
for the first time thir- 
teen years after it had 
been penned, encouraged 
him to go on with his composition. He immediately 
undertook the completion of Die Meistersinger (pro- 
duced June 21, 1868, at Munich) and Der Ring des 


SIEGFRIED WAGNER. 


. Nibelungen. 


ROYAL ASSISTANCE. 


In the meantime Wagner had been summoned to Munich 
where King Ludwig II offered him his assistance (1864). 
Tristan und Isolde was brought out under yon Biilow at 
the court theatre in 1865. Many enemies arose to repudiate 
the artistic beliefs of Wagner and in consequence he retired 
to the village of Triebschen on Lake Lucerne where his 
ree work upon the Ring and. Die Meistersinger was 
one. 


WAGNER’S SECOND MARRIAGE. 


Wagner’s devotion to his first wife in the early years 
of their marriage did not develop with time. ‘Mina” 
Planer was material and when the world laughed at Wagner 
and refused to provide him with a living she found him 
a “monster of genius’ intolerant, unfaithful and insuffer- 
able. She left him to reside with her relatives. When 
Wagner went to Munich for the production of Tristan und 
Isolde he met Cosima von Biilow, daughter of Franz Liszt, 
and the Countess d’Angoult. A mutual infatuation arose 
which culminated in their marriage, Aug. 25th., 1870, about 
one year after the dissolution of the unhappy marriage of 
the von Biilows. Cosima devoted her life to the Wagner 
propaganda and her son Siegfried Wagner became the 
musical successor of his father, although his works have 
never approached the least ot Wagner's masterpieces. 


THE GREAT FESTIVAL THEATRE. 


In 1871 Wagner saw an opportunity to earry through 
his project for a Festival Theatre which he had held in 
his mind for twenty-three years. The place determined upon 
was Bayreuth and by means of Wagner societies formed 
“all over” Europe, the most unusual theatre in the world 
was opened in August of 1876, when the Ring was given 
before an audience representative of the best brains of 
Europe. Notwithstanding a great artistic success the 
theatre proved a huge failure financially. Wagner went 
to London to give concerts at the Albert Hall with the hope 
of recovering, but this brought him little return. Gradually, 
however, the royalties upon his works placed him in a more 
and more comfortable position. We next find him engaged 
upon his sacred” stage spectacle (Buhnenweihfestspiel } 
Parsifal. This was completed and produced in July of 1882, 


64 


* THE END, 

His health began to fail in the latter part of 1882 
and he removed to Venice. There is lived in much 
elegance in the Pallazzo Vendramini on the Grand 
Canal. Little musical work was done except one ap- 
pearance at the Liceo Marcello when he conducted his 
Symphony in C. His stomach trouble and _ heart 
trouble grew steadily worse and on February. 13th, 
he was seized with a violent attack from which he 
never recovered. His widow declined the offer of a 
public funeral in Venice and the body was taken to 
Bayreuth, where after a simple ceremony the great 


composer was interred in the lovely Garden behind 


his residence “Wahnfried.” : 


WAGNER’S CHARACTER. 

Wagner’s character was enigmatic in the extreme. 
One moment eccentric, another rational, another coarse, 
another exquisitely refined—now an ingrate, now a 
loyal friend, now an esthete, now licentious,—how can 
one define this ‘monster of a genius?” Never politic, 
his discourtesy made armies of enemies who made his 
own life much harder to live. While he loved luxury 
and demanded silken robes in which to write he at the 
same time hesitated about coming to America where 
he knew a fortune awaited him. Making all due 
allowance for the fact that Wagner loved to pose, we 
have in him one of those rare cases of a man appar- 
ently controlled from without by those inexplicable 
forces which make for incessant creation in art. 


WAGNER’S REFORMS. 


Wagener’s great predecessor Gluck sought to make 
his operatic music appropriate to the meaning of the 
text. Wagner went further and endeavored to have 
the music itself connote ideas. This he did by the 
ingenious system of associating a short theme or 
motive (leitmotif) with an idea and so identifying it 
with that idea that an intelligent listener could not 
fail to recognize it as it appeared in the vocal or orches- 
tral parts. Many of these motives are repeated time 
and again but usually with slight variations in rhythmic 
and harmonic treatment. Again Wagner employed the 
recitative more continuously than any of his predeces- 
sors. 

WAGNER’S APPEARANCE. 

Wagner was somewhat under middle height, had 
blue-grey eyes, wore glasses, had brown hair and was 
very quick in all his movements. 


WAGNER LITERATURE. 


Like Shakespeare and Napoleon huge libraries of 
books about Wagner and his works have been pub- 
lished. Of all these perhaps the most helpful are 
Julien’s Wagner, His Life and Works; W. J. Hender- 
son’s Richard Wagner, His Life and Dramas; H. T. 
Finck’s Wagner’s Life and Works (two volumes. of 
great importance). W. S. B. Matthews’ How to 
Understand Music includes a very vivid description of 
most of the Wagner music dramas. Wagner's pub- 
lished letters cover from two to three thousand pages 
of fine type and are issued in various collections. 


A WAGNER PROGRAM. Grade 


Piano Duet, Wedding March....Lohengrin 3 
(Arranged by S. Jadassohn) 
2. Piano Soto, Elsa’s Dream...... ..Lohengrin 5 
; (Arranged by Liszt) 
Vocat Soto, O Thou Sublime Evening Star, 
Tannhiuser 
4. Viottn Soto, Prize Song......Meistersinger 
5. WomMEN’s CuHorus, Whirl and Twirl, 
Flying Dutchman 
Duet, Magic Fire Music....Walkiire 
Soto, Siegmund’s Love Song.Walkiire 
Soto, Wagner Fantasie........00.s0008 
(Arranged by Engelmann) 
Soto, Traiime..... Tristan und Isolde 
Duet wlarch eons settee Tannhiuser 
Trio, Song of the Rhine Daughters, 
Gétterdimerung 
12. Mixep CuHorus, Pilgrims Chorus. Tannhduser 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


- To whom did Wagner owe artistic allegiance ? 
When and where was Wagner born? 

State some facts about Wagner’s musical education 
. What work did Wagner produce when he was 19? 
What was Wagner's first successful opera ? 

. What famous musician helped Wagner in Paris? 

. Why was Wagner obliged to leave Germany ? 

: What famous king aided Wagner in his work? 
Name five of the leading music dramas of Wagner, 
. When and where did Wagner die? 


_ 


w 
Op 


PrIaNno 
PIANO 
PIANO 


Be hoes 
_— 
Bann 


9. VocaL 
PIANO 
11. VocaL 


kw Rm 


> ST CO bo 


_ 
o> nA 


fi 


influenced by art ideals coming from the Latin 


and traveling theatrical impresario. 


_ taught Carl Maria's elder brothers. 


being Genoveva von Brenner, a 


AUMUUAVALOUOUUNOTLAVUONOLNUIOONUNUTRNOLOQUGNQOUCOQOUGQGQUOQQUULONOQCQOUEUANQUUOTENCQTQUOUEURORREQYOUONENOMESQOCOROQOUCROGTNLLOLGGUALOQUOOQUCROOLOOUOOONLGDONELANGREGDOACANGLODICIONNUONULUOGOUU0OUONOTO0CCG0NNGAUNCUGDUQGROCKQTORUQQNNUQQNOQROGQODOVORUGNONDOQUONNNGQH GNU QNUNNNOOQRDDINN90000 000000009 0UHKNVNV00NKN0U0Q000I00 000000010070] 00QNLNAN0000 


all 
seq 


TUVATGAUODEVEOUA UA ATORUADAVOTUOONNTIES 


Fz 
© 


| CT 44 
WEBER’S PERIOD. 


Wirtu the coming of Weber we witness a great 
and significant change in German art. Prior to 
that time the artistic and social life of the upper 
circles in Eastern Europe had been very openly 


countries. We should think of Weber as living in a 
period comparatively recent. Indeed he was not born 
until aftr: the British had evacuated New York City. 
It was just about this time that Napoleon received his 
first commission, and it is very clear to all those who 
have gone over the life of Weber very closely that the 
intense German antagonism to the Corsican, whose chief 
fame rested upon his success as a War Lord, had much 
to do with Weber’s own art development. Weber de- 
tested everything pertaining to Napoleon and held fast 
to everything German. For this reason he left nothing 
undone to create a truly German spirit in the opera of 
his country. Indeed, he is known as “the father of Ger- 
man opera.” Some years after Weber’s death, when his 
remains were reinterred at Dresden, Richard Wagner 
said in his funeral oration, which took the form of a 
farewell, “There never was a more German composer 
than thou. * * * Britain does thee justice; the French- 
man admires thee! But only the German can love thee! 
Thou art his own, a bright day.in his life, a drop 
of his blood, a particle of his heart!” 

Another outstanding phase of Weber’s accomplish- 
ment in musical art must be noticed. He is credited 
with being the founder of modern romanticism in 
German. musical art. What, first then, is the meaning 


of romanticism as the instance of Weber defines it? 


When Der Freyschtits was produced the critics tried 
to talk down the immense popular favor with which 
the opera was greeted by pointing out that it could not 
be regarded as a great masterpiece since it did not 
follow the prescribed formal lines accepted and em- 
ployed by the great masters previous to Weber, Here 
we divine the pertinent difference between Romanticism 
and Classicism. Classicism holds fast to regularity, 
pure beauty of line, evident symmetry, traditional 
formal outlines. Romanticism invites most of all the 
unexpected, the novel, the imaginary, the legendary, the 
strange, the mythical, the supernatural, the fantastic, 
the anarchic, the extravagant, the lawless. For such 
a reason then Wagner, Chopin, Schumann and Debussy 
might be regarded as Romanticists, while Handel, 
Mozart, Haydn and, in a broad sense, Johannes Brahms 
would be ranked as Classicists. 


WEBER’S ANCESTRY. 


- One may find frequent references to the family of Weber 
éomparing it with that of Bach. There is really small basis 
for comparison either in number or in talent. ‘The first 
member of the family known to be musical was Johann 
Baptist Weber, made a Knight or Freiherr in 1622, and thus 
becoming ‘entitled to the coveted prefix ‘‘von’’ of which Carl 
Maria was So proud. Joseph Franz Xavier, brother of John 
Baptist was known as a fine amateur. Fridolin, his son, was 
musically inclined and the son of Fridolin, also known as 
Fridolin von Weber, was a violinist and singer. Fridolin had 
four daughters, Josepha, Aloysia, Constanza and Sophie. 
Constanza became the wife of Mozart. Fridolin’s brother, 
Franz Anton von Weber, was the father of Carl Maria von 
Weber. Weber thus was a cousin by marriage of Mozart. 
Franz Anton von Weber, whose career was quite as pic- 
turesque as it was irresponsible, did not become a profes- 
sional musician until he was forty years of age. There can 
be little doubt that it was from his father that Weber in- 
herited his nemadic inclinations and-also very probably the 
tendency to the disease that. carried him off. Franz Anton 
von Weber was a violinist, viola ‘player, double-bass virtuoso 
He enjoyed the friend- 
ship of many famous musicians including Joseph Haydn, who 
It was his great desire 
to have a son who might in some way equal, Mozart in 
precocity. In 1785 he married for the second time; his bride 
singer. Tlis eheckered 
career, ranging from the lot of the soldier to that of the 
wandering Thespian and the court official. was in many ways 


G menace to the broader development of his talented son. 


flee a 
= uel 


ST eee 


TTT et TTT? 


“What Love is to Mankind, Music is to Art? 


WEBER’S YOUTH. 

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born at 
Eutin in Holstein (Germany), December 18th, 1786, 
where his father was director of the town band. Weber 
did not at first’ show any signs of gratifying his father’s 
desire to have a son who might be a precocity. Accord- 
ingly the child was tried at painting, drawing, engrav- 
ing, etc., at none of which studies did he show any 
particular talent. During the boy’s early years we find 
the father obliging his family to follow the more or 
less precarious livelihood of tHe traveling theatrical 
company. This company in fact was made up in part by 
members of his own family. We find them jumping 
from city to city, now Vienna, now Meiningen, Cassel, 
Erlangen, Augsburg, Nuremberg and it is not hard to 
see why the boy’s musical education was more or less 
fragmentary. 


WEBER’S TEACHERS. 
Weber’s first teacher in music was his father, who 
was so irregular in giving instruction that the results 
were of little consequence. In 1796, on one of the 


‘family’s theatrical tours, they stopped in Hildburghausen 


where Weber received his first real lessons from an 
oboist named Heuschkel. Heuschkel was also an able 
organist and pianist. His influence upon the boy was 
most excellent. During the following year Weber 
studied with Michael Haydn, (brother of Joseph), at 
Salzburg. Haydn was much interested in the boy and 


WEBER’S BIRTHPLACE. 


65 


WS 


Y 


HCUUVERAUADOMENORNGRORAGIOONAtAAANAGR ETE 


‘TMM 


ea 


WHT 
ee pe eee OS 
op Se 


Weber reciprocated this interest by dedicating his 
first compositions to Haydn (six fughettas). 
Next at Munich (1798-1800), Weber was fortu- 
nate enough to come under the instruction of the 
court organist Johann Neponmk Kalcher, who 
lh taught him composition, and also Valesi (real 
name Wallishauser), a fine singing master. 

In 1799 when the boy was thirteen years old he wrote 
his first opera Die Macht die Liebe und des Weins (The 
Might of Wine and Song). The manuscript of this 
uncompleted work was lost in a fire. While in Munich 
the youth became much interested in the subject of 
lithography, meeting the inventor Aloys Senefelder. He 
went so far as to acquire the skill to engrave his own 
Variations for*Pianoforte, Op. 2, himself. Weber and 
his father saw a great future for this new industry, and 
some improvements in process the boy is said to have 
discovered induced the father to move to Freiberg, 
Saxony, because he thought that there were larger op- 
portunities for them in this new field. The venture, 
however, was not a success and the move served only 
to raise Weber’s interest in dramatic music. His next 
venture was an opera Das Waldmddchen, which at- 
tracted favorable notice when presented at St. Peters- 
burg, Vienra, Prague, Chemnitz and Freiberg. This 
probably enabled the family to return to Salzburg where 
Weber resumed his studies with Michael Haydn. A third 
opera now made its appearance, Peter Schmoll und seine 
Nachbarn. Note that Weber’s stage childhood made a 
very powerful impression upon his work. Living be- 
hind the scenes and associating with famous actors he 
came to know the craft of the theatre probably better 
than any other great operatic composer, not even ex- 
cepting Richard Wagner. 

In 1803 the Webers went to Vienna where the son 
studied with Abbé Vogler, who in turn secured the 
young man the post of Kapellmeister at the Breslau 
City Theatre. 


AN UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCE. 


The Weber family passed through many curious and 
interesting vicissitudes. The old father, who thought 
nothing of assuming the title of Major, went every- 
where with his son and proved more of a burden than 
a help. In 1801 they tried hard to raise funds by 
selling their lithographic inventions to the publisher 
Artaria, in Vienna, but failed. Finally after the young 
man had tired of music teaching he secured an ap- 
pointment as Music Intendant to Duke Eugen, of 
Wutrtemberg. Then he became private secretary to the 
profligate Duke Ludwig at Stuttgart. There in an 
atmosphere of dissipation, Weber tried to hold his own 
by philosophical studies. He enjoyed reading Kant 
and other of the great German thinkers, but the vicious 
life of the court was quite too much for a young man 
who had had, to say the least, a very irregular bring- 
ing up. The Duke did not hesitate to stoop to dis- 
honest means to keep up the income necessary for his 
carousals and von Weber was often put to it to see 
that the necessary revenue was forthcoming. It mattered 
little how the money came so long as it came in suff- 
cient measure. 

On many occasions the Duke’s brother, the King, took 
Weber to task for the shortcoming of his master. Once, 
after a severe tirade, the composer left the royal 
chamber in a rage. At the door stood a laundress 
with a basket of soiled clothes. She inquired the way 
to the laundry. “In there,” shouted Weber, “there is 
the Royal Laundress.” This incensed the King so much 
that he ordered Weber’s arrest but the Duke secured 
his pardon. However, when a servant planned to secure 
the Duke a loan through fraud the blame fell upon 
Weber and he and his father were arrested only to 
be banished perpetually from Wutrtemburg, 


What seemed like 
a misfortune was in 


reality great good 
fortune for the com- 
poser, who _ was 


gradually bartering 
his talents for high 
living. Although 
his banishment oc- 
curred just at the 
moment when prep- 
arations for his 
newly-written opera 
Silvana were in 


progress, Weber 
was not discour- 
aged. This opera 


was given at Frank- 
fort-Am-Main, Sep- 
tember 16th, 1810, 
With KMaraliona 
Brandt, Weber’s fut- 
ure wife, in the 
leading role. The 
next year a one- 
act singspiel (oper- 
atic skit) called 
Abu Hassan was 


WEBER AT T TIM HI giveh in Vienna. 
ae oe eas S- At Mannheim his 


RESIDENCE IN STUTTGART, : 
first symphony was 


success. 


brought out with notable 


WEBER’S LITERARY INCLINATIONS. 
Little attention has been paid to Weber's literary inclina- 


tions probably because they remained ungratified in the 
measure the world expects from an aspiring writer. We 
know that he aspired to conduct a musical journal, com- 


menced a musical dictionary, finished part of a musical novel 
called The Musician’s Life (Tonkiinstler Leben) and often 
wrote long commentatory articles to the daily papers ex- 
plaining his purposes in presenting certain operatic works. 
Indeed, in appraising Weber’s work as a musician it is as a 
composer and director of dramatic music that he looms 
largest. 


WEBER IN PRAGUE. 


In 1813 Weber was appointed Kapellmeister of the 
National Theatre, at Prague, Bohemia. With charac- 
teristic German thoroughness he set to work to learn 
the Bohemian language and was soon able to talk with 
more or less ease. His work at Prague was so suc- 
cessful that he was called to Dresden in 1817 to con- 
duct the Royal Opera. It was there that he commenced 
and completed the work upon which his fame chiefly 
1ests, Der Freischiitz, This opera embodied so many 
new and radical departures from the old Italian type 
of opera that it is often called the first German opera. 
There can be no question that it influenced Richard 
Wagner very greatly in his work. Weber employed 
a libretto written upon the theme of a novel by Apel. 
The opera met with immense and immediate success. 
It is interesting to note that Weber at one time thought 
of writing an opera on the Tannhauser legend. 

Fate was now favoring Weber in all but one thing. 
With increasing duties his health commenced to run 
down and the way to the end was clear. In 1817 he 
married Caroline Brandt, formerly a soubrette in his 
companies. They lived very happily and devotedly and 
several children were born to them. Weber’s next works 
were the music to Preciosa, which was completed in 
three weeks, and a light opera, Die Drei Pintos. His 
settings of K6rner’s Leyer und Schwert and Kampf 
und Siege struck a strong patriotic note which added 
to his increasing popularity. In 1823 his Euryanthe 
(revived at the Metropolitan, New York, 1915) was 
given in Vienna, It did not meet with the success that 
had greeted Der Freischiits. 

Weber was now famous but after the fashion of all 
ages those who knew him best were the last to realize 
that he was regarded with honor throughout the land. 
Indeed, when the manager (Intendant) of the Royal 
Opera at Dresden went to Berlin and found Weber 
greeted by rows of admirers, hats in hand, the Intend- 
ant exclaimed, “Sind Sie denn wirklich Bertihmt?” 
(“Is it possible then that you are really famous?”) 


WEBER IN LONDON. 


The unrelenting grasp of tuberculosis was now firmly fixed 
upon Weber. What might the world have reaped had the 
modern methods of the cure of this disease been known at 
that time! Weber went to Marienbad for rest and the 
waters, Ile also tried the famous springs at Emms—all with 


little avail. Charles Kemble, the great English actor, then 
at the head of Covent Garden, sought to have Weber write 
an opera in English, the price reaching $5000.00 including 
Weber’s services at the first performances. Kemble sug- 
gested either the Faust legend or the Oberon legend. Weber 
aspired to leave his wife and family as well provided for 
as he could and although his physician made clear to him 
that a trip to London would shorten his life by years he 
nevertheless bravely set out to earn the large sum promised 
him. In order to make his work more effective he took 1538 
lessons in the English language. Traveling via Paris he, 
reached London on March 5th, 1826, Oberon, his new work 
written for Covent Garden, was first produced April 12th. 
The reception given to Weber was most emphatic, In his 
own words it was “the greatest success of his life.’ Weber 
became the man of the hour in London and with his poor 
disease-racked body he was dragged hither and thither after 
the manner of all popular heroes. The excitement proved 
too much for him and he died June 4th, 1826. In 1844 his 
remains were taken to the Weber family vault at Dresden 
when Richard Wagner performed the funeral oration. 


WEBER’S FRIENDS. 


Mozart died when Weber was five years of age and 
it is hardly likely that the child got more than a fleet- 
ing picture of his illustrious cousin. Weber, however, 
did know many of the famous musicians of his time 
including Joseph Haydn, who took no small interest in 
his work. Weber admired Haydn and strove to be 
present at performances of his masterpieces. Strange 
to say, Beethoven did not impress Weber as it would 
seem to many he should have done. Weber said of 
Beethoven, “His fervid, almost incredible, inventive 
powers are accompanied by so much confusion in the 
arrangement of his ideas that his early works alone 
interest me; the later ones are to me a_ bewildering 
chaos, an obscure straining after novelty, lit up, it is 
true, by divine flashes of genius which only serve to 
show how great he might be if he would but curb his 
riotous imagination. I, of course, can not lay claim to 
the genius of Beethoven—all I hope is that each separate 
stroke of mine tells.” Beethoven met Weber late in 
life and spoke favorably of his work. It is reported 
that when Weber’s Euryanthe was shown to Beethoven 
he turned it aside with the remark: “Nothing but a 
string of diminished sevenths.” Weber also knew 
Meyerbeer very well and at one time lived with the 
Meyerbeer family in Berlin. 


WEBER AS A PIANIST. 


Weber was accotinted a very fine pianist. His hands 
were said to have been very large so that he had tio 
difficulty in stretching a twelfth. Abbé Vogler gave 
him a very thorough schooling in the gfeat master- 
pieces, but Weber was chiefly in demand for his owti 
compositions for pianoforte, which were quite numer- 
ous. Some of the compositions became very popular, 
particularly the Invitation to the Dance. He was noted 


-for one effect which astonished all who heard it and 


that was a remarkable crescendo. Starting with a 
hardly audible pianissimo he would gradually work up 
to a tremendous forte which at that time was greatly 
admired, Of Weber’s pupils, the best known was Sir 
Julius Benedict, Heinrich Marschner was associated 
with Weber at Dresden, but hardly as a pupil. 


WEBER’S COMPOSITIONS. 


Of Weber’s nine operas only three, 
Oberon, Euryanthe and Der Freischiitz, 
are known to-day, and from the twenty- 
eight contributions to other dramatic 
works his music to Preciosa is now the 
only memory. In Germany three of his 
eight cantatas (Jubel Cantata, Kampf 
und Sieg, Natur und Liebe) are heard 


now and then. His sacred music, in- 
cluding a Mass in E flat, is almost 
unknown, Weber wrote ninety songs, 


many of which had a guitar accompani- 
ment. These have practically disappeared 
from concert programs and perhaps de- 
servedly because outside of the vocal 
works written for the stage Weber 
seems to lose in charm compared with 
the masterpieces of Schubert, Loéwe, 
Franz and Schumann. Some of his nine 
teen part songs for men’s voices have 
all that fine vigor which has made 
the singing of German Ménnerchére in- 
spiring. Weber’s two symphonies were 
rarely heard, but his Jubel Overture is 
seen on programs occasionally. Weber 
wrote very little for violin solo, but 
there are, strange to say, concertos for 
bassoon, clarinet and the horn. The 
six sonatas for pianoforte and violin 
contain much that is interesting. Weber’s 
pianoforte compositions are often very 
striking indeed. Von Wenz relates that 
Liszt was very fond of these. Indeed 
the Concertstiick in F minor with or- 


66 


chestral accompaniment, is rated as one of the classics for 
the instrument. The Weber sonatas are quite uneven in 
their interest, but there is much in them which should en- 
gage the pianist, especially he who has been too closely 
confined to Chopin, Schumann and company. 


APHORISMS BY WEBER. 


“Truth is really often stranger than fiction, and in 
the form of a poem would be considered absurdly in- 
credible; but this is the peculiar bizarre proceeding of 
life that it passes by that which lies nearest and there~ 
by stamps truth as a fable. One might almost say that 
not all is true of what really happened; or that there 
ate things which have occurred but which when related 
become falsehoods.” 

“Of what effect is this modulation? Ha! the modula- 
tion, consisting of three or four measures and perhaps 
only of one, taken out and preserved in spiritual alco- 
hol. Whence it arose, why it is so, and why it should 
occur at this particular place—these are matters of 
which no one thinks. It is somewhat as if one would 
cut out of a painting a single nose or a felicitous ray of 
light and exhibit them apart as rarities. It is the asso- 
ciation, and not the isolated parts, which is of weight.” 


WEBER AS CONDUCTOR. 


Weber was a very exacting, painstaking, severe con- 
ductor. His singers, actors and musicians at first re- 
sented his attitude but when they saw his wonderful 
familiarity with every tiny detail of everything per- 
taining not only to the music but to the stage itself he 
won their respect. His “eyes were everywhere” and 
every costume, every gesture, every scene, every phrase 
was determined by Weber’s valuable artistic judgment 
so that the ensemble was historically fine. 


BOOKS ABOUT WEBER. 


There are few noteworthy books in English upon Weber. 


The best account is doubtless that of Dr. Philipp Spitta, in 
the Grove Dictionary. Sir Julius Benedict, who was a pupil 
of Weber, has written a volume, but this lacks the fullness 
that one must look -for in a good biographical work. 


A WEBER PROGRAM. 


1. Prano (Srx Hanns): Der Freischitz.. 2.1... 3 
Arranged by Krug. 

2. Prano Soto: Invitation to the Dance........ 7 

3. Sonc: When the Thorn ts Witte... 2... 3 

4. Prano Soto: Rondo Brillante....¢..s...502- 8. 

5. Sone: Prayer from Der Fretschitg.....-.... 4 

6. Prano Soro: Sonatina on Motives from Der 


4 Freigchtio iene eee Rr eRe Ws 
7. Viottn Sov} Waltz No. 2... cece eee eens 
8 Vocat Soro: Ocean, Thou Monster, from 
Oberon Dose a a dve's 0 \sis\e\6.0leielelelae Seta eine nme ge 
9, Piano Soto: Rondo Brinwante Op. 62........ & 
10. Piano Durr: “Oberon.22seeereee eee! 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. What did Weber found in modern German musical! 
art? 

2. When and where was Weber born? 

3. Give some facts relating to Weber’s interesting 
ancestry. 

4. Who were Weber's teachers? 

5. In what industry was Weber interested? 

6. Tell something of Weber’s eseapades. 

7. Tell something of Weber’s literary inclinations. 

8. How did Weber rank as a pianist? 

9. Name some of Weber’s principal works. 

10. When and where did Weber die? 


THE WOLF’S GLEN SCENE IN DER FREISCHUTZ2. 


ee  ———— 


es 


= 


ec 


FAANAOOOUALOQS000UUULUUUUIULTL 


Sill 


SN 


ANY 


MOMMMMMniK~-—; 


Niels W. Gade 
Prior to the appearance of Gade in the musical 
firmament there had, of course, been Scandinavian 
musicians of unquestioned ability and worth, but none 


was known to the great world of music with similar 
distinction. A. F. Lindblad, born in 1801, near Stock- 


Niets W. GADE. 


holm; Hans Christian Lumby, born in 1810, and known 
as “the Dannish Lanner;’ Peter E. Hartmann, born 
in 1805, who was to become the teacher and then the 
father-in-law of Gade, are mentioned in modern Ger- 
man works of limited contents. Apart from these one 
might mention Gade’s immediate contemporaries, Half- 
dan Kjerulf, Jwar Hallstrom (1826-1901) and a few 
others. Kjerulf is known to us by his entrancing 
melody, Last Night, but few of his other songs have 
survived. 

This condition is surprising when we remember that 
the Scandinavian countries entertained a high spirit of 
culture in literature and science for many years before 
music became a recognized achievement of the north- 
ern countries. Yet one may well look for poetry from 
the land of the powerful Sagas,—tales that still stand 
big and strong beside the literature of all peoples. 
Denmark, however, was separated by only a few miles 
of territory from the great centers of musical activity 
in Germany. Copenhagen is nearer to Berlin than 
Buffalo is to New York and Chicago is much further 
from New York than Vienna is from Copenhagen. Yet 
at the very time that we find the musical celebrity of 
Scandinavia confined to Gade and a few men of lesser 
reputation, the great lights of musical Europe—Wag- 
ner, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn 
—were flaming to immortality just over the borders of 
Denmark. 


es. 


> Se 


UONEQULVOUUTGNORTUNAGUOOUTHUEOOOOAOOUOHVOOEAOORUAGOGAYOOATTAAUUOOEAOOUAGAOOOOTOOEGREOUAAEOEOTU AGATA 


—> te 


Foremost Scandinavian Composers 


TIM 
SC HOT a ny 


Gade’s Youth and Education 


Gade was born at Copenhagen February 22, 1817. His 
father was a maker of musical instruments, who had 
as his sole ambition that of having his son become a 
ereat master. Accordingly Gade was given as severe a 
drill as could be provided. His early teachers insisted 
upon enormous amounts of work and the boy was 
overburdened with harassing discipline. Under these 
conditions he made little real progress as he lacked 
that animating self-interest without which success is 
impossible. 

Gade’s later teachers are known only to Scandinavian 
circles. Wexschall, Berggreen and Weyse were all men 
of large reputation in Denmark but their chief fame 
now rests upon the fact that they taught Gade. Gade’s 
father-in-law, Peter Hartmann, and his brother-in- 
law, Emil! Hartmann, helped him immensely in his 
work although the latter was in a sense a pupil of Gade. 
In his youth Gade had the good fortune to become a 
member of the Royal Orchestra of Denmark and thence 
on his interest in music increased. In 1841 he won 
an important prize awarded by the Copenhagen 
Musical Union with his Nacklange von Ossian. One 
of the judges was Louis Spohr. Mendelssohn, who, 
like Schumann, was always appreciative of young talent, 
took a great interest in Gade’s youthful work and had 
it presented at the Gewandhaus concerts. The over- 
ture attracted wide attention in Germany and in Gade’s 
home country. The result was that the King awarded 
the young man an important stipend which made it 
possible for him to travel abroad. In 1843 Gade went 
to Leipsic, where he brought out his C minor symphony 
and a choral work entitled Comala. 


Pleased with his success in Germany Gade went to 
Italy to live for nearly a year. . Mendelssohn at that 
time found his activities divided between Berlin and 
Frankfort and needed an assistant-conductor. To 
this important post Gade was invited. Between the 
years of 1846 and 1848 he was the principal conductor 
of the orchestra. Thereafter he returned to Copen- 
hagen and devoted the remainder of his life to the 
musical upbuilding of his own country. It may thus 
be seen that Gade was at the height of his early 
career (1843) when Grieg was born. However the 
later Scandinavian composers are revered it must be 
remembered that to Gade and to Denmark must be 
given the glory of bringing the northern countries into 
the great musical hall of fame. 


In 1861, Gade received the appointment of Royal Capell- 
meister at Copenhagen, and the distinction of Royal Pro- 
fessor. In 1876, he visited Hngland and conducted his 
Zion and his Crusaders, at the Birmingham Festival. He 
died at Copenhagen, December 21, 1890. ; 

The time-worn witticism of speaking of Gade as “Mrs. 
Mendelssohn,” inferring that Gade is a kind of effeminate 
Mendelssohn, is ill deserved. There is much in the music 
of the Danish composer that is distinctive and original. 
His friendship for Mendelssohn was long and Sincere. In- 
deed, Gade, together with David Moscheles and Hauptmann, 
were among the pall bearers at Mendelssohn's funeral. 
Gade’s works have the atmosphere of Mendelssohn and 
Schumann alike, but still retain their own individuality. 
While there are here and there suggestions of Scandinavian 
themes his music is in no sense impregnated with the essence 
of the northern countries, as is that of Grieg and Sibelius. 
Indeed, but for his occasional use of Scandinavian idioms, 
he might be aligned with the German composers. 

Of Gade’s sixty-four numbered works, the best known are 
his cantatas, The Erl King’s Daughter, The Message of 
Spring (Friihlingsbotschaft) and The Crusaders. His sym- 
phonies and instrumental works, such as Hamlet, Michael 
Angelo and In the Highlands are rarely heard. Of his 
piano works those most in demand are the Aquarelles and 
Arabesques. The trio in F for violin, ’cello and piano is 
deservedly popular. All of his compositions were exceed- 
ingly well balanced and finished. None is marked by any 
attempt at sensationalism. 

67 


—s 
eS 


je 


pe 
qe TT 
Y 


Johann Severin Svendsen 

Although Svendsen was born three years before 
Grieg (September 30, 1830, at Christiania, Norway), it 
was not until many years later that he enjoyed any of 
the international fame that came Grieg’s way in com- 
paratively early days. This was not in any way due to 
lack of home advantages or encouragement, as Svend- 
sen’s father was the leader of a popular military band. 
Indeed the*boy made his first essays at composition 
when he was only eleven years of age. Shortly after 
the age of fifteen he became an army bandmaster. While 
in the army he made the mistake of trying to learn a very 
great many instruments. It is said that he was able to 
play well upon the violin and the flute as well as the 
clarinet. 

The army proved too uninteresting for the youthful 
musician and ere long we find him playing in a theater 
orchestra and in a dancing school, even going so far 
as to arrange some of the Kreutzer and the Paganini 
studies for dancing purposes. This again proved too 
confining and we next find him wandering as an itiner- 
ant musician over Sweden and Germany. King Charles 
XV heard of his talent and provided sufficient funds 
for the young musician’s further education. He studied 
assiduously for a considerable time and made the error 
of straining his hand so badly that he was forced to 
give up the violin for composition. Accordingly he went 
to Leipsic, where Reinecke, Richter, Hauptmann and 
David took him in hand. 

His work at Leipsic must have been especially thor- 
ough, as he received the medal of honor upon gradu- 
ation. Thereafter he went to France, Scotland, Den- 
mark and Norway. In Paris he made many friends and 
played with a leading orchestra. Leaving Paris at the 


JOHANN SVENDSEN. 


time of the Franco-Prussian war he was unfortunate in 
receiving an excellent offer to become conductor of one 
of the great German orchestras, only to find that the 
orchestra was forced to discontinue in consequence of 
the war. 

In the meantime he had been composing steadily and 
his symphony in D attracted wide attention when first 
given at a Gewandhaus concert (1870). Svendsen next 
visited America, not for musical purposes however, but 
principally to renew the acquaintance with an American 
lady he had met in Paris and whom he subsequently 
married. Returning to Germany he met Richard 
Wagner and formed a firm friendship with the great 
German composer. Svendsen indeed was in thorough 
sympathy with Wagner and his followers especially 
Franz Liszt and this may account for the fact that of 
all the Scandinavian composers of note he probably 
shows the least touch of the Scandinavian atmosphere. 

In 1872 he became conductor of the Christiania 
Musical Association with which he was associated for 
most of the better part of his later life, although he 
often toured far from his native city. In 1874 the 
Norwegian Government recognized his genius and 
afforded him sufficient support to enable him to go on 
with his composition. It also enabled him to travel 
abroad in quest of new inspiration and new ideas. 
Leipsic, Munich, Rome, Paris and London were all 
visited and the effect upon Svendsen’s output was very 
notable. The position of court conductor to Copen- 
hagen was offered to Svendsen in 1883. He died in 
Copenhagen June 14, 1911. 

Grieg and Svendsen represent two quite opposite 
manifestations of Scandinavian musical genius. Svend- 
sen aspired to be thoroughly cosmopolitan in all his 
works, while Grieg sought to breathe the folk music of 
Norway. Yet, both men were intimate friends and 
worked together in many fields of musical activity. 

Of Svendsen’s best known works his symphonic in- 
troduction to Sigurd Slembe, his concertos for violin 
and for ’cello, his symphony in D and his chamber 
music compositions all deserve the serious attention of 
musical historians. His Rhapsodie Norwegienne, the 
Romance, Opus 26 (for violin), as well as his Winter 
and his Polonaise, Opus 12, are well known. 


Johan Gustav Sjogren 

Johan Gustav Sjégren (pronounced Shay-gren) was 
born at Stockholm, Sweden, June 6th, 1853. Many 
critics class him as the greatest of the Swedish com- 
posers of modern times. He has employed folk mate- 
rial in his works, but they are not so representative on 
the whole as are the works of Grieg. His early studies 
were conducted at the Conservatoire at Stockholm, but 
his principal work was done at Berlin, where he was 
a pupil of those stern German schoolmasters, Haupt 
and Kiel. When he was thirty he made an extensive 
tou of Europe visiting Paris, Munich, Venice and 
Vienna. 1891, however, he has confined his 
activities to Stockholm, where he is an organist of the 


Since 


4 


IORCICRCACACRCRCACROROROROACRORORORORCRORORORORORORORG 


JoHAN GusTAy SJOGREN, 


CHRISTIAN SINDING, 


Yohannes-kyrka. He is not famed for compositions in 
larger forms but rather for pieces of high artistic finish 
and exquisite content. The best known of these are 
Auf der Wanderschafe, Opus 15 (two books) Fan- 
tasistycke (six numbers), Eroticon and Humoresque. 


Jean Sibelius 

When St. Eric, King of Sweden, subdued Finland 
in the middle of the twelfth century, his first move 
was to send the Bishop of Upsal to preach Christianity 
to the pagans that then inhabited the rugged country 
of marshes and lakes. For over five centuries Finland 
was thereafter a province of Sweden. The inter- 
course between the people of Sweden and those of 
Finland naturally resulted in making the Finns a race 
strongly Scandinavian in type. In 1721 Peter the 
Great attached part of Finland to the Russian Empire 
and in 1809 Finland became a part of the land of the 
Czar. Nevertheless, the Scandinavian feeling expressed 
in Finnish nationalism is still said to be very strong. 

The country of Sibelius is therefore one which may 
properly be classed with the Scandinavian countries 
although under Russian rule. It is from the standpoint 
of population, about one-half the size of New York City. 
Yet the meeting of Russian and Scandinavian culture 
has produced works of large and deserved merit. 
Education and progress, often under huge difficulties, 
has marked the recent history of Finland although 
a university was established in “the country of a 
thousand lakes” very shortly after the first Puritan 
pilgrimages to America. 

Understanding these significant facts about Finland, 
the personality of Sibelius becomes ever more interest- 
ing to his admirers. 

Jean Sibelius was born on December 8, 1865, at 
Tavastehus, a tiny city in southwest Finland. As in 
the case of Schumann, Handel, and others, he was first 
destined for the law. However, he became a pupil of 
Wegelius at the Helsingfors Conservatory. After 
graduation he went to Berlin, where he studied with 
Becker, and then to Vienna where he came under the 
instruction of the noted master Goldmark. He also 
had instruction from Fuchs and Bargiel. His genius 
was so obvious that the Finnish legislature granted 
him a substantial stipend to enable him to continue his 
work. Returning to Helsingfors in 1898, he assumed 
control of the rapidly growing conservatorium. 

Fortunately he has been enabled to continue his work 
at composition so that in middle life he is already 
recognized as a master. While his first works have 
evidences of his German training it must be re- 
membered that even under so great an authority as 
Goldmark, he was found an unruly pupil, anxious to 
follow paths of his own finding. His later works are 
marked not only by the folk-music of his native land 
but by that wonderful blending of the mysticism of the 
East and the dynamic power of the West which char- 
acterizes his race. Although Finland is commonly re- 
ferred to as a Scandinavian country, the folk songs of 


68 


j 
1 
Finland have comparatively little in common with those 
of other Scandinavian countries. , 

Two of Sibelius’ works, The Swan of Tuonela and 
the Lemminkainen’s Homefaring, were given in Chicago 
under the baton of that guardian angel of musical 
pioneers, Theodore Thomas, as early as 1901. Since 
then Sibelius has made two visits to America (1913- 
1914), whither he came through the splendid initiative 
of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Stoekel to take part in th 
Litchfield County Choral Union Festival in the musie 
shed at Norfolk, Connecticut. 

Sibelius has become popular in America through his 
tone poems and symphonies as well as his deservedly 
popular pianoforte compositions, the best known of 
which is the Romance. : 


Christian Sinding 

Sinding’s long residence in Denmark has led many t 
regard him as a Dane, but he is in reality a Norwegian 
as he was born January 11, 1856, at Kongberg. After 
his initial studies at home he went to Leipsic, where he 
became the pupil of Reinecke (1874-1877). Having a 
Royal Scholarship he was enabled to continue his 
studies at Dresden, Munich, and then at Berlin. All in 


all he is one of the most thoroughly drilled of the 
Scandinavian composers. 


: 
% 
‘ 


For a time he lived in Chris- 
tiania as a teacher and as an organist, but later removed 
to Copenhagen. 

Sinding’s work is all marked by high artistic concep- 
tions of balance, style, and melodic beauty. The artistic 
atmosphere of his own home life may have in a measure 
accounted for this. One brother is a poet of renown 
and the other is one of the foremost sculptors of Scan- 
dinavia, Sinding is an admirable pianist but in later 
years has given practically all of his ambitions to com- 
position. His recently produced opera was very favor-. 
ably received and he has the distinction of having writ- 
ten two of the most widely performed pieces of the 
hour—Rustle of Spring and the delightful song, 
Slyvin’s Song. He has written a violin concerto that 
has been very popular with performers upon that instru- 
ment. There is also a pianoforte concerto which de- 
serves to be better known. His symphony in D minor 
has been played by numerous orchestras since its com- 
position in 1890, and his chamber music and piano 
pieces are of such high character that he will unques- 
tionably rank among the immortals of Scandinavia. 


Ten Test Questions 

1. Name some noted Scandinavian 
Gade? 

2. When and where was Gade born? 

his life work. His leading compositions. 

3. Why was Gade nicknamed ‘Mrs, 

When and where did he die? 


composers before 
Tell something of 


Mendelssohn ?"’ 


4. When and where was Svendsen born? Give some 
facts about his life. 
5. What are Svendsen’s best known works? When and 


where did he die? 

6. When and where was Sjégren born? Give some facts 
about his life and work. When did he die? 

7. When and where was Sibelius born? Give some facts 
about Finnish music. 

8. What are the best known works of Sibelius? 

9. When and where was Sinding born? 

10. Name some of the best known works of Sinding. 


@ 


1@)1@)1/0) WO) '/O)1/0) 0) 1/e)tie)tie) eV) 


RORCOROROACN 


(ORORORORCAORCAORONONO 


Gil 


cal 
‘s 
s 
e 
js 


in 


RORONCACNG 


KORO 


JEAN SIBELIUS. 


AUR 


ItaLy, the art treasure of the world of yesterday, 
the glorious land of flowers, sunlight and song, is still 
pouring out from her rich cornucopia those wonderful 
melodies which seem native only to the land of the 
Tiber. 

Musical development in modern Italy follows closely 
the great revival of activity attributed to the resump- 
tion of national entity after many years during which 


DQONVONNOONM ON OOOO OOOO OOO OOOO OTOororore 


1S 
ES — 
= Ss 
= js 
= =| 
Ss = 
s S 
= js 
Ss 
S| = 
B = 
EY) eS 
= 
= 3 
= = 
Ss Ss 
EY 


OW 


ONONORONCKORONONO 


fl 


QVOUUO OOOO ONOONOTOVOVO Veer 
RORORCRONCNORONONG 


VOW 
ACH 


ie) 


O 


© gadededades 


6 


1Ol® 


s 
= 
= 
= 
S 


ONCRONCRONCNONONCRORCRONCRORCRCRCRCRCRORCRORORCRONORO 
MASCAGNI, 


what we now know as Italy was merely a collection 
of small states, ununited save for the will of the com- 
mon people. Italy came to its own during the late 
sixties and we may note that the performance of two 
significant operatic works indicates in prophetic manner 
the turn from the old to the new. These were Aida, 
by Giuseppe Verdi (produced at Cairo, Egypt, December 
24th, 1871), and La Gioconda, by Amilicare Ponchielli 
(produced in 1876). 


It was at this time that observers commenced to note 
ER hed German influences in Italian music. The case 
of Verdi is analogous to that of Haydn, who in his old age 
Was so much impressed with the accomplishments of his 
pupil Mozart that he developed new methods and new treat- 

ents that fairly regenerated his old style. Verdi still re- 
mains unsurpassed among Italian composers. His Aida, 
Otello and Falstaff ave pinnacles of Italian operatic musical 
art, ranking in modernity with the best productions of men 
ho were children when Verdi was an old man. Best of 
ll, Verdi, like his younger confréres, succeeded in producing 
x art fortified by Teutonic technic but still Italian to the 


Biiafortunately space does not permit us to discuss 
ere works of such able Italian composers as Boito 
1842-), Bossi (1861-), Pirani, (1852-), Martucci 
(1856-1909), Ferrata, Franchetti (1860-), Giordano 
(1867-), Cilea (1867-), Montemezzi, Zandonai, Busoni 
1866-), and others. We must confine ourselves to 
hose fortunate (but in many instances no more worthy 
Omposers) upon whom world-wide popularity has be- 
towed a crown. 


| ee ae Sse oie ves 


CGA Tw 


762 4h = wT NS a, YN 
We 4D 
AIDE OIG. one 


Mascagni 

Pietro Mascagni was born December 7th, 1863, in 
Leghorn (Italian name Livorno), province of Tuscany, 
Northern Italy. His father was a baker whose ambi- 
tion was to have his son a lawyer. Like Handel and 
others, Mascagni was obliged to gain much of his early 
musical education by stealth. He entered the Instituto 
Luigo Cherubini as a pupil of Soffredini. His father 
was greatly incensed when he discovered his son’s 
clandestine method of securing a musical education. 
Fortunately, an uncle became interested in the boy and 
took him to his house. The youth’s first work of note 
was a symphony in C minor, written in honor of 
Cherubini, and performed at the conservatory when 
Mascagni was only sixteen. The success of another 
composition in a prize competition reconciled the father, 
and thereafter he helped his son in his musical work. 
His next work was a setting of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” 
which Beethoven used for the text of his Choral Sym- 
phony. This found great favor with a nobleman, who 
guaranteed Mascagni’s expenses at the Milan Conserva- 
tory. There he studied with Ponchielli and Salidino, 
but his restless nature made him a poor student. He 
could not be held back by the routine of counterpoint 
and fugue and accordingly ran away from the con- 
servatory to join a traveling opera company. Ill pre- 
pared from the academic standpoint, and without con- 
servatory credentials, he was forced to live the life 
of the itinerant conductor of small operatic com- 
panies, and had his taste of bitter poverty at times. 
Later he married and settled in a little town, managing 
a local music school and giving pianoforte lessons, 

From these depths Mascagni one day found himself 
suddenly raised to fame through the astonishing suc- 
cess of his opera Cavalleria Rusticana. In 1889 the 
Italian publisher Sonzogno offered a prize for a one-act 
opera. Mascagni’s Cavalleria won the prize, but was 
not produced until May of the following year. It was 
immediately recognized as a huge success and Mas- 
cagni became famous over night. The King of Italy 
presented him with the order of the “Crown of Italy,” 
a rare distinction, and medals were struck in his honor. 
Unfortunately Mascagni’s later operas, which contain 
many masterly passages, have not equaled the popu- 
larity of the inspiration of his youth and poverty. His 
L? Amico Fritz, ’Rantzau, Gugliclmo Ratcliff, Silvano, 
Zanetto, Le Maschere, and other works are rarely 
heard. His Jris (a Japanese opera of decided merit) 
is given occasionally. 

Mascagni has made numerous tours as a conductor. 
In. 1903 he visited America with an orchestra; but did 
not succeed in making a deep impression upon the 
American people. His case is in many ways lamentable, 
because the real promise he showed in Cavalleria has 
not been redeemed in his later works in a way that 
has compelled universal or permanent interest. Caval- 
leria, however, is still immensely and deservedly 
popular, 

Leoncavallo 

Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s father was a Neapolitan 
magistrate. The boy was born at Naples, province of 
Campania, middle Italy, March 8th, 1858. His early 
teachers were Simonetti and Siri. Later he became 
a pupil of the Naples Conservatory, where he came 
under the tuition of Cesi, Ruta and Rossi. He re- 
ceived his: diploma of Mestro (Master) at the age of 
eighteen. ‘His first attempt at an opera was upon the 
plot of Chatterton, that erratic genius and dreamer, who, 
failing in his early ambitions, poisoned himself. before 
he was eighteen. Leoncavallo secured an impresario 


69 


(LS ai a a ee oe 


ccc 
oss WN) ES xO NS \ 
GZ : 


pS 


for his opera—but alas! the impresario absconded with 
all the young composer’s funds. He then gave lessons 
in piano and singing, and also played in cafés for 
some time, to eke out a living. He was clever and 
through his playing was enabled to travel through 
France, Holland, England, Germany and got as far as 
Cairo. His next move was to write a trilogy after the 
manner of the Wagnerian Nibelungen Lied. His pub- 
lisher, however, did not bring out the work with sufh- 
cient promptness to suit Leoncavallo, and he accord- 
ingly went to Sonzogno, now very successful through 
the promotion of Mascagni’s Cavalleria. For this pub- 
lisher Leoncavallo wrote his two-act opera Pagliacci, 
which met with immediate success when it was given 
at the Teatro dal Verme, on May 21st, 1892. 

As in the case of Mascagni’s other operas, Leon- 
cavallo has as yet had but one signal success and that 
is Pagliacci. He seems to have been visited with gen- 
uine misfortune in many instances, as with the case of 
his opera Chatterton, his Crepusculum, La Boheme, 
Zaza, Der Roland von Berlin.’ In the last named 
work the Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany hoped that he 
had found in Leoncavallo a composer who could pre- 
serve in operatic form the history of the Hohenzol- 
lern family, as Leoncavallo had hoped to preserve that 
of the Italian family of the Medici. The opera was, 
however, a flat failure when it was produced in Berlin, 
December 13th, 1904. Leoncavallo is a very- clever 
librettist, and he has for the most part written the 
libretti for his own works. His La Boheme was pro- 
duced in Milan (1897) only a few months after Puc- 
cini’s opera of the same name had mdde a huge suc- 
cess. Naturally, Leoncavallo’s work was forced to re- 
tire in favor of its more successful competitor. His work 
is often very emotional, brilliant and dramatic. His 
orchestration is often extremely effective. 


LEONCAVALLO, 


judged by the number of his successful works, this 
composer stands at the forefront of the later Italian 
masters. He was born at Lucca, Northern Italy, June 
22nd, 1858. His family (like that of Bach, Couperin, 
Wesley and Strauss) has been distinguished by the 
number of musicians it has produced. None of them, 
however, has approached Giacomo Puccini in ability 
or celebrity. As a youth he was fortunate in securing 
the patronage of the Queen of Italy, who secured for 
him a pension which provided for his education at the 
Milan Conservatory. There he came under the instruc- 
tion of Amilicare Ponchielli. 

Puccini’s first work was Le Villi, a one-act comic 
opera which met with more than ordinary success. 
It was produced when the composer was twenty-four. 
Five years later (1889), ne produced his Edgar. The 
libretto was very poor and the opera was a compiete 
failure. His next work was Manon Lescaut, brought 
out in 1893, It is much more mature in style than 
the previous works, and met with considerable suc- 
cess. His first real triumph came in 1896, with the 
production of La Bohéme, which is still one of the 
most popular operas in the repertoire. The work is 
especially rich in lovely melodies, and the treatment 
showed that the composer had been a close student of 
his great forerunner, Verdi, although his ideas are 
very fresh and original. Tosca (produced at Rome, 
January 14th, 1900), while not advancing the fame of 
the composer at least showed that he was not to be con- 
sidered a “one opera” man. His greatest work is 
unquestionably Madama Butterfly, which passed from 
the delightful story of John Luther Long, through the 
dramatic genius of David Belasco to Puccini’s libret- 
tists Illica and Giacosa. This revealed Puccini as a 
great dramatic composer capable of creating a musical 
atmosphere and characterizing his subject in a manner 
both forceful and artistic. Madama Butterfly was first 
given at Milan, in 1904. Strangely enough, the Italian 
public did not like the Japanese setting at first, and the 
opera was virtually hissed from the stage. It event- 
ually became one of the most successful of all modern 
operas, not only in Italy but all over the world. His 
Girl of the Golden West, derived from the play of Be- 
lasco of the same name, has great strength and pictur- 
esqueness, but it has not made the same appeal that 
. marked Madama Butterfly. A composer who has been 
able to produce so many masterpieces before his six- 
tieth year may follow the lead of Handel, Haydn, 
Wagner and Verdi by producing his greatest works in 
years to come. 


Sgambati 


Giovanni Sgambati is the most distinguished of the 
modern Italian composers to direct his attention to 
symphonic music rather than to the Opera. He was 
born at Rome, May 28th, 1843. His mother was an 
English woman, the daughter of the sculptor Joseph 
Gott. His father was an Italian lawyer who wanted 


OOD PMN DIMA OM MINeeenrne) 


WO 


KONO 


ONO 


| 


| 


ACN 


HOO Ve) He iervvertietieyt 


| 


WO 


= 
= = 


| 


10) 
CRORORORORORORCACING 


Ss 
= 
BS) 
= 
2 
= 
= 
es 
5 
‘= 
Ee 
= 
SS 
= 
= 
= 
>= 
=) 
se 
BE 
= 
=| 
=) 


OOO 


NORORONONORONORCRONCNCORONCRCRONORORONONORORORORORON 


COCRORORORORCRORORORORORONCRCACRORORONONCRCRONCACNCRORG 


PEROSI 


PUuccINI. 


his son to follow his profession. The boy’s early in- 
clinations towards music were very manifest. At the 
age of six the boy sang in public and conducted small 
orchestras. His early teachers were Natalucci and Bar- 
bieri. Later he gave concerts in Rome, playing the 
compositions of Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Schumann 
and Chopin, at a time when the chief Italian interest 
in music was still in the opera. When Liszt took up 
his residence in Rome, in the seventies, Sgambati be- 
came his enthusiastic pupil. He became a pianist of 
distinction but he was not content to let his work 
rest with this accomplishment. He was determined to 
introduce the symphonic compositions of the great 
German masters to Italian audiences. It remained for 
Sgambati to bring the Eroica Symphony and the 
Emperor Concerto to the Roman public for the first 
time, over a half a century after they had been writ- 
ten. The Beethoven Eroica was given in New York, 
in 1842, at the first concert of the New York Phil- 
harmonic Society. It was written in 1808. From this 
may be seen the need for the splendid missionary work 
which Sgambati did in Rome in the seventies. 

Through the friendship of Liszt and Wagner—who 
were great admirers of Sgambati’s works—he secured 
the publication of some of his chamber-music com- 
positions. His Symphony in D, written in 1881, at- 
tracted wide attention in Italy. This was followed by 
a pianoforte Concerto and string quartets. 

Strangely enough his string quartet was first intro- 
duced in London by the Kneisel Quartet which, by the 
way, while an institution of which Americans are very 
proud, was born on the continent. Such is the cosmo- 
politanism of art. 

Sgambati’s works gained the recognition of serious 
musicians in all parts of Europe. In 1886 he was 
invited to become Liszt’s successor at the French In- 
stitute. Of his forty or more works the most pre- 
tentious, and possibly the most effective, is his Messa 
da Requiem, written in commemoration of the death 
of King Humbert, in 1896. Sgambati died in De- 
cember, 1914. 

Wolf-Ferrari 


Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, like Sgambati, is only half 
Italian, and is the son of an artist. His mother was 
an Austrian. He was born in Venice, June 12, 1876. 
He began composing when he was only eight years old. 
When he was nineteen, he wrote an opera. He was 
a pupil of Rheinberger, in Munich (1893-95). In 1902 
he became director of the Liceo Bendetto Marcello, 
in Venice. His Cenerentola (Cinderella), brought out 
in 1902, attracted much attention to his work, not only 
Italy but in Germany. In 1903 came his Le Donne 
Curiose, which brought him international fame. ‘This 
was quickly followed by La Vita Nuova (The New 
Life), an oratorio founded upon ideas from Dante. 
This has proven the most successful choral work pro- 
duced by an Italian since the Manzonni Requiem of 
Verdi. The Jewels of The Madonna is now his best- 
known operatic work. It has frequently been given 


70 


in America with great success, Woli-Ferrari was for- 
tunate in that, at the start, he was almost entirely 
self-taught, and was enabled thereby to develop along 
very original lines. Indeed his opera, La Sulamita, was 
produced before he went to Munich to study with 
Rheinberger. This rare acquisition of self-development 
was then brought under the strict discipline of the great 
German contrapuntalist. The result is that Wolf- 
Ferrari has preserved a naturalness and sensuousness 
which is most alluring, while at the same time he has 
a technic which is wholly adequate for his artistic 
needs. The musical result is very delightfui and 
natural. . 


Perosi 

Dom Lorenzo Perosi, musical director of the Sistine 
Chapel at Rome, has for many years been one of the 
foremost figures in Italian musical art. He was born 
December 20, 1872, at Tortona, Province of Piedmont, 
Northern Italy. His father was the director of music 
at the cathedral in that city. Perosi became a priest 
early in life. In 1892-93 he studied music at the Milan 
Conservatory. Thence he went to Ratisbon (Regens- 
burg), Germany, to further his studies in Church music 
under Haberl. His first important position was that 
of choirmaster at St. Mark’s, in Venice. In 1898 he 
was called to the highest post in the music of the 
Catholic Church. There he immediately set about to 
improve the music of the Sistine Choir, and it is said 
that this inspired Pope Pius X to institute his famous 
reforms in church music. 

Perosi has written a trilogy of oratorios The Trans- 
figuration, The Rising of Lazarus and The Resurrec- 
tion of Christ. His oratorio, The Last Judgment, is 
probably his best-known work. It is-big in scope and 
represents a peculiarly interesting blending of the old 


churchly style with the facilities of modern education. 


His Moses, produced in 1901, and his Leo the Great, 
produced in 1902, were much liked in Italy. He has, 
in addition to his choral music, written a great many 
organ compositions and some works for orchestra, in- 
cluding a series of symphonic sketches which he has 
named after the cities of Italy, “Rome,” “Venice,” 
“Florence,” etc. His last oratorio, Dies Iste, has not 
yet attained the popularity of his early works. 


The Test Questions 


1. Name fifteen composers of modern Italy, 

2. What influence did Verdi have upon the later-day com- 
posers of Italy? 

3. State some incidents pertaining to the education of 
Mascagni. 

oe How did Mascagni jump from poverty to fame over 
night? 

5. State some of the misfortunes which held back Leon- 
cavallo, 

6. How old was Puccini when his first real triumph came? 

7. Which of the great modern Italian composers is re- 
Spon ey for the introduction of German symphonie music 
in Italy? 

8. What is Sgambati’s most pretentious work? 

9. Which modern Italian composer has been very success- 
ful in writing both operatic and sacred music? ; 

10. Who is the greatest modern Italian composer of music 
for the church? 4 


OUUDUDUDNONCS 


“2 


WotF-FERRARI. 


MO | 
ie 


ST 


MMMM 


SPECIAL studies of some length have been given in 
this series to Berlioz, Gounod and Debussy. In the 
following group other French masters of renown are 
discussed. Among these are several men of outstand- 
ing importance, notably Bizet and Cesar Franck. Any 
one of these distinguished masters deserves more 


lengthy consideration than the limits of this series will 


SOON NOON OOO OOOO OTO OOOO OIaOrwe 


(0) 1(0)$(0)1/0)1(0)1(0)110) 1/0110) 1/0) 1/01 
RORCRORORONONONG 


OU 


I 


RONCARORONOAOAONG: 


RONONONO 


I 


l 


@1@ 


DOU DU OU DU DOU DUD 
In 


OV OYOUOUOM 


ONOVOVOOI 


1! 
l 


10)! 
ROAONORO 


f 
il 


RONONONONO: 


\ 


ONORONONONG 


i 


LOVOVOVOVON 


9 
Ol@it 


iC CAC CNORORONONCRON CANON CNONONONTAONONONORCNONONONCAONG 


Grorces BIZeT. 


permit. Chaminade was discussed in the series dealing 
with famous women composers. 


Georges Bizet 

Bizet’s name was properly Alexandre Cezar Leopold 
Bizet, but he is known almost exclusively by the name 
Georges. He was born in Paris, October 25, 1838. He 
came from a musical family, his father having been a 
teacher of singing and his mother an assistant of the 
famous Delsarte. 

In 1848 he entered the conservatory, where he became 
a pupil of Marmontel at the piano, obtaining in 1851 
the second prize for piano playing and the first prize 
in 1852. Bizet was given a very strict schooling in the 
classics and was known to be a proficient Bach player. 
He also studied the organ with Benoit, counterpoint 
and fugue with Zimmerman and composition with 
Halevy, whose daughter Genevive he married. At the 
conservatory a strong friendship sprung up between 
Bizet and Gounod and they were of great mutual help 
to each other. Bizet’s versatility is shown by the fact 
that in addition to winning the first prize at the Con- 
servatoire in piano playing, he also won the first prize 
in fugue and the first prize in organ playing, and 
eventually the Grand Prix de Rome in 1857. 

For a time it was expected that Bizet would become 
a professional pianist. Berlioz, that acute critic, wrote 
1863) that his facility in reading and his security of 


—— = 


ne = 


SS — 


Saar gy 


Modern French Composers 


SZIHAVUNNNLNNNUNNNNALNQCNQNNNNOUUUUUGUURUAONGNGQUNGUUUONGQLGGNGQQNQEQOOQONUOUUUUOUGONOUONNOOGNONONOGOGEOOOOOOOUUOOUURCEE 
SS ee 
IRWVE BN WERE: SS S\ay 


Bae Me BW, LE Wi S9<F// 
AN IW Za AWS] Z/a\) DSS 
AN AIM! Die Nira ng 


touch were remarkable. Bizet, however, was destined 
to become a composer for the stage. His first work 
was a lyric scene entitled Clovis et Clotilde, with which 
he won the Prix de Rome in 1857. From then to his 
death came eighteen busy years, during which he pro- 
duced works of high dramatic importance and musical 
significance, but of even greater promise. Bizet’s ambi- 
tion was to fill his musical works with local color. 
Carmen, his masterpiece, first produced on March 3, 
1875, is wholly and unmistakably Spanish, while Les 
Pecheurs de Perles (1863) is oriental. Apart from 
these two works Bizet is now best known by his music 
for Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne (1872). 

Three months after the production of Carmen Bizet, 
who had been suffering with a severe throat trouble, 
passed away. He never lived to know how great a 
success he had given to the world in his masterpiece. 

Bizet wrote thirteen pieces for piano two hands, thirteen 
for piano four hands, some forty songs, seven choral works, 
three religious works, five symphonic works, four comic 
operas and seven serious dramatic works. Bizet also wrote 
eight operas which were never produced. In addition to 
the foregoing works, Bizet made many transcriptions from 


the works of other composers—Gounod, Handel, Massenet, 
Mozart, Saint-Saéns, Schumann, Thalberg and Thomas. 


Benjamin Godard 


First a violinist, then a pianist and finally a com- 
poser, Godard occupies a unique place in the history 
of musical art. He who can produce original melodies 
that endure for over a half a century is indeed a 
genius. Godard can not be regarded as one of the very 
great masters of music, but he was unquestionably one 
of the most melodious. His Berceuse, from Jocelyn, 
and his Second Mazurka are as popular to-day as when 
they were written. 

Godard was born at Paris in 1849 and died in 1895. 
He was a pupil in violin playing of Richard Hammer 
and Henri Vieuxtemps, and in composition of Reber. 
His parents were wealthy and spent money liberally to 
further the musical interests of their son. This was 
fortunate, as the family lost its means when Godard 
was twenty-one, but not before the young musician was 
sufficiently established to care for his needs. His com- 
positions rapidly became popular in Germany as well 
as France. In 1887 he was placed at the head of the 
ensemble classes in the Paris Conservatoire. He was 
one of the few French musicians who competed for 
the Prix de Rome, lost it and yet attained success. 

Excessive work and the gay life of Paris under- 
mined Godard’s health and produced consumption, from 
which malady he died. 

It is only in recent years that the high value of many 
of Godard’s pianoforte compositions has been realized. 
His works for the stage and the voice and the violin 
also have a greater value than has hitherto been at- 
tached to them. They are sometimes trite it is true, 
but again they rise to notable heights. 

Godard’s works include eighty-one numbers, some 
of which are sets of several pieces. Godard wrote 
several symphonies and many works for the stage. It 
was not in that field, however, that he was destined to 
meet with greatest success. His most notable work 
for the piano is doubtless En Route, which is No. 24 in 
Etudes Artistiques. 


Jules Massenet 

Although Massenet was one of the most prolific of 
modern French composers, it is worthy to comment 
upon the surprising manner in which his works, written 
years ago, are continually revived with great success, 
such as that which attended the Mary Garden-Ham- 
merstein productions of This, Herodiade and Le 
Jongleur de Notre Dame. 


71 


SATNinanaTnnAne TATA TTT 


aes 


i 
i" 
i ) 


| Enh 


PMMA i 


Jules Emile Frederic Massenet was born in 1842 
(May 12th), near St. Etienne, in the province of Loire, 
France. He was the last of twenty children of an old 
officer of the former empire who had quietly settled 
back as a manufacturer of scythes and other steel 
implements. 

Massenet was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire 
in 1851, where he became the pupil of Savard, Laurent, 
Bazin and Ambroise Thomas. Twelve years thereafter. 
at the age of twenty-one, he captured the Prix de 
Rome. After his years in Italy he visited Germany and 
Hungary. 

Massenet’s great talent was so conspicuous that’ he 
had little difficulty in gaining recognition. When he 
returned to Paris in 1866 he found the orchestras ever 
ready to perform his symphonic works, and in 1867 he 
produced, with no little success, his opera La Grand 
Tante. Thereafter he continued a veritable fountain 
of works, which continued until his death. 

M. Alfred Brunneau speaks of his continuous vic- 
tories as without precedent in the history of the French 
stage. Debussy declares that while Massenet can never 
be said to have spoken with the universal voice of a 
Bach or a Beethoven, he, nevertheless, was a charming 
specialist who wrote in his own style in inimitable 
manner. 

With the death of Ambroise Thomas (August 13, 
1912) Massenet was offered the Directorship of the 
National Conservatoire, but refused, saying ‘that he 
preferred to be the Professor of Composition. During 
the eighteen years that he taught at the Conservatory 
he brought forth many pupils who captured the Prix 
de Rome and who no doubt may be among the masters 
of to-morrow. Distinctions of the highest kind were 
heaped upon him in his advanced years, among them 
that of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor and that 


JuLes MAssENrT, 


of presiding over the Academie des Beaux Arts et 
[Institut de France in 1910. 


A mere catalog of Massenet’s works would occupy several 
pages. There are some thirty pieces for piano solo, twenty 
pieces for piano four hands, a large number of songs, in- 
cluding excellent works, such as Owvre tes yeux Bleus, many 
choral works, religious and secular, twenty “pieces for the 
symphonic orchestra (including a piano concerto, 1903), 
eight musical settings for plays (Musique de Scene), three 
ballets, five oratorios aud cantatas, twenty operas and 
much special music, transcriptions, orchestrations, etc. 
An excellent life of Massenet has been written in English 
by Mr. H. T. Finck. 


Gustave Charpentier 

Gustave Charpentier, born at Dieuze in the Lorraine, 
June 25, 1860, sprang into musical immortality with the 
performance of his opera Lowise in 1900. Up to that 
time Charpentier was known to but comparatively few 
people. Lowise was given just a few weeks before 
the opening of the Exposition and its success was so 
great that it was repeated two hundred times con- 
secutively—an almost unheard of record for,a work of 
its type and class, 

After the Franco-Prussian war the parents of Char- 
pentier, who were intensely French, could not continue 
to live in the conquered territory under Prussian rule 
and accordingly moved to Tourcoing. There in a local 
college Charpentier received his first instruction in 
music, as well as in arts and sciences. Although he 
was pronouncedly musical it was not decided that he 
should become a professional musician, Accordingly 
he was given employment by a spinning establishment, 
where he remained until he was nineteen years of age. 
The head of the business was a violinist and assisted 
Charpentier in organizing a symphony society. Seeing 
the talent of his young employee the proprietor decided 
to send him, at his own expense, to the Conservatory 
at Lille, where Charpentier received the first prize in 
violin playing and in harmony, as well as the prize of 
honor. Thereupon his village of Tourcoing alloted 
him an annual pension of 1200 francs in order that the 
brilliant young man might go to Paris. 

In 1881 he became a student at the National Con- 
servatory, studying violin under Massart and harmony 
under Hector Pessard. In 1887 he won the Prix de 
Rome with a cantata entitled “Didon.” In Rome Char- 
pentier wrote his Impressions of Italy, The Life of a 
Poet and the first act of Lowise. Returning to France 
he took up his residence upon the butte of Montmartre, 
that precipitous hill that rises out of the middle of 
Paris and until the erection of the great cathedral of 
Sacre Cour, given over to the peculiar mixture of art 
and under-world which made the spot famous. There 
he was swallowed up in the mysticism and_ socialism 
peculiar to the butte—there he lived the life of the 
artist, so close to the vagabond; there he built his 
wonderful music drama Lowise and made it a living 
thing, full of human heart-beats, full of real life. 


Maurice Ravel 
Ravel, while known to most people as one of the 
musical extremists of France, is regarded by his con- 


BENJAMIN GopArpD, 


César FRANCK, 


Charpentier has written some dozen songs, seven pieces 
for voice and orchestra, six works for the symphonic 
orchestra, and four works for the stage, including the sequel 
to Louise, entitled Julien. Like Wagner, he is a gifted 
literateur, and the words of many of his works are original 
with him. All who have seen Louise realize that even 
without the music it would rank as a powerful play. 


temporaries as a composer likely to command per- 
manent renown in the tone world. He was born 
March 7, 1875, in Ciboure in the Basse-Pyrenees. 
Entering the conservatory in 1889 he came under the 
tuition of Anthoine, Beriot, Pessard, Gedalge and 
Faure. In 1901 he won the second Grand Prix de 
Rome, but it is rumored that he did not succeed in 
winning the first prize because he was unable to write. 
in a style sufficiently conventional and academic to 
meet the requirements of the examiners. 


His works include some twenty pianoforte solos, seven 
pieces for piano four’ hands, fifteen songs with piano, two 
chamber music works (a quartette and an Introduction and 
Allegro for harp, strings, flute and clarinet), two composi- 
tions for symphonic orchestra, a musical comedy, a ballet 
and other works of interest. While his output has not been 
great, he has brought distinction to himself through his 
ingenious handling of dissonances. 


Vincent d’Indy 

Paul—Marie—Vincent d’Indy was born in Paris, 
March 27, 1851, of an old and noble family. Losing his 
mother shortly after his birth, the father, Count d’Indy 
placed the boy in the care of Mme. Theodore d’Indy, 
grandmother of the little Vincent. Commencing the 
study of the piano at the age of nine, he had the good 
fortune to continue under M. Diemer from 1862 to 
1865. Thereafter he studied with Marmontel, Lavignac, 
Duparc and the great César Franck. For a time d’Indy 
studied law and then became a volunteer in the Franco- 
Prussian War. His interest in orchestral music led 
him to take a position as the kettle drummer in the 
orchestra of the Association Artistique. In 1885 he 
won the grand prize of the City of Paris with the 
Chant de la Cloche. In 1887 he conducted the chorus 
for the first Parisian performance of Wagner’s 
Lohengrin. He was one of the founders of the 
National Society of Music and the Schola Cantorum. 
Later he became director and professor of composition. 


dIndy has visited America and conducted important 
concerts here. Of present-day French musicians, he is a 
representative of the middle path between conservatism and 
radicalism. His works are lofty in their idealism, and yet 
not beyond the bounds of common sense. They include 
some thirty works for piano solo, two works for piano four 
hands, ten songs with piano accompaniment, five choruses, 
seven religious works, eight chamber music works, sixteen 
works for symphony orchestra, two musical settings of 
plays, six works for the stage (including a comic opera), 
many popular songs, piano arrangements, etc. 


César Franck 

Although César Franck was born in Belgium in wie 
tragic city of Liege (December 10, 1822) he spent 
so much of his life in Paris that he has become identi- 
fied with the Frénch school of moderns which he did 
so much to benefit through his sublime ideals. 

Franck’s first studies began at the excellent con- 
servatory of Liége, where he gave concerts when he was 


72 


eleven years old. In 1837 he entered the Paris Con- 
servatoire, where he became the pupil of Zimmerman, 
Leborne and Benoist. He took the first pianoforte 
prize in 1838 and the second composition prize one year 
later. In 1841 he captured the second prize in organ 
playing. 

Franck’s music was too serious and earnest to win 
him the immediate applause of the public. Aside from 
the fact that he worked prodigiously every day, his life 
was “regular and tranquil,” almost uneventful. For 
thirty-two years he was organist of the Church of St. 
Clotilde. His many organ pupils remember him for his. 
generous, kindly, painstaking nature. His 
upon French organ playing was most beneficial. Becom- 


ing a French citizen by naturalization in 1870 he ac- 


cepted the professorship of organ playing at the con- 
servatoire in 1872. 

Franck has been termed by some “the modern Bach,” 
because of the severity of style manifested in some 
of his: works and because of the fineness of his technic. 
Some are even inclined to credit him with the founda- 
tion of a new school—the Franco-Belgian school. His 
influence upon the work of such of his pupils as d’Indy, 
Duparc, Chausson, Rousseau, Pierné, Augusta Holmes, 
Benoit and R. Huntington Woodman was pronounced. 


Franck’s best-known work is doubtless Les Beatitudes, 
an oratorio written in 1870. This is without question one 
of the greatest oratorios produced in modern times. The 
text is a poetic form of the Gospel. It deserves to be given 
very much more frequently. Of his fifteen works for piano 
solo, the Prelude, Choral and Fugue is probably heard more 
than the Fantasies on the other works. There are two 
pieces for piano duet. For the organ he left twenty-seven 
pieces. There are fourteen songs, nine works for vocal 
ensemble, ten chamber music works (including a notable 
quartette for strings), sixteen religious works, eight works 
for symphonic orchestra, six oratorios, three operas, and 
some transcriptions, which indicate how industrious he was. 

Franck died of pleurisy, in Paris, November 8, 1890. 

The modern French school is exceedingly comprehensive 
in its scope. In addition to the works of the foregoing, it 
reaches from the delightful melodious ballet music of Leo 
Delibes (1836-1891) to the extremities of Lekeu (1870-1894), 
Alfred Brunneau (1857 ),. Faure (1845-1914) and 
others. There is a richness and warmth and brillianey to 
much modern French music that always rewards the 
listener. The music lover who has been unfortunate enough. 
not to hear some of the works of the following composers 
is, indeed, to be pitied: Charles Bordes (1863: ), Alexis 
de Castillon (1838-1873), Emanuel Chabrier (1841-1894), 


Ernest Chausscn (1855-1899), Camille Chevillard (1859- 
), Paul Dukas (1865——-), Henri Dupare (1848 ), 
Paul Ladmirault (1877——), Edouarde Lalo (1823-1892), 


Andre Messager (1853- ), Gabriel Pierné (1863——), 
Jean Poueigh (1876), Albert Roussel (1869——), Florent 
Schmitt (1870——), Deodat de Severae (1873——). 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Tell something of the ancestry and training of Bizet. 

2. How long did Bizet live after the first production of 
his masterpiece Carmen? 

3. Which famous violinist wrote many successful com- 
positions for the piano? 

4. Tell something of the youth and early successes of 
Massenet. : 

5. How many operas did Massenet write? 

6. Who wrote the opera of Louise? 

7. For what is Ravel distinguished? 


8. Which celebrated French composer was once a kettle. 


drummer? 
9. Who is the most famous modern composer porn In 
Belgium ? . : 
5 1 ee French composer has been called “the Modern 
ach?’ cs 


ra 


NOUN OOOO OO OOOO OOOO NOVO OOOTOOOVO!e'@ 


ONCRORONCKONCG 


RONCKON 


@ 


n 


RONO 


J 


GUSTAVE CHARPENTIER. 


influence © 


isl 


- 
a ee 
— 


ee 
— 
—= 
— 
—— 
— 
a 
= 
—=— 
—— 
—- 
—— 
a 
— 
—= 
— 
—m 
— 
—s 
— 
= 
— 
— 
a 
—— 
— 
— 
ed 
—=s 
— 
—= 
— 
—— 
=—_ 
— 
—— 
ase 


TTT 


Wuen Mendelssohn’s Elijah was first produced in 
Birmingham, England, in 1846, the musicians and 
singers when they first tried the famous chorus Thanks 
be to God refused to believe that Mendelssohn had in- 
tended the discords occasioned by the unexpected in- 
troduction of seconds in the vocal parts. They insisted 
that it was a mistake and, if they had had their own 
way would have stricken out what now seems to many 


Antonin DvoRAK 


“musicians one of the most beautiful passages in Men- 
-delssohn’s masterpiece. 

d History is filled with analogous instances of the re- 
pusal of cultured people to accept the unaccustomed in 
art. Indeed, it is often the refined man, the cultivated 
an, the educated man, who will hold longest to his 
conventions. The masses are often in advance of the 
so-called intellectual classes, in that they have few con- 
entions. They accept such unique but very natural 
musical rhapsodies as Stravinsky’s Fire Bird and Mous- 
sorgsky’s Boris Godounoff, while the trained musician 
often speculates upon whether it complies with the 
onventions that make for what he conceives as art. 
t is therefore very necessary for the musician, in judg- 
ng a néw and unusual art work, to divorce himself 
rom his previous art principles and lend a thoroughly 
ympathetic ear to the new speaker. Perhaps he has a 
sreat and new message: Beethoven, Wagner, and Liszt 
ad, even though they were ridiculed when they first 
rought it to the world. This group includes men with 
any strikingly new ideas and methods. It is highly 
ecessary that the art worker of to-day become familiar 
ith their productions. 


—, > 
SZZGANY 


ci 


NAY 


TTT E 


A Group of Modern Masters 


SUI HHHINUUUYAQNAQNUNHONOEOARENARATAGSRROAGGUOGREOOGAOUCAUOGAEOAOAGAOUAAAO AAA RES 
ee es Sy ie meee eer 


ZA Ne 
ac SG 


WZ 


4 


INAS Sire nnqiZ 


Antonin Dvorak 

Antonin Dyorak (pronounced Dvor-zhak), while an 
innovator in many, many ways, was not to be classed 
as an iconoclast. He was born September 8, 1841, at 
Miithlhausen (sometimes given in Bohemian as Nela- 
hozeves), Bohemia. His father was a fairly successful 
butcher and dreamed of the time when Antonin would 
become his successor. The elder Dvorak also kept a 
tiny inn where the boy heard the traveling musicians 
play the national tunes of his native land. 

The local school-master taught him to sing and to 
play the violin. His talent was so pronounced that he 
was called upon to play in school and sing in church. 
When he was twelve, he was sent to another town under 
the care of his uncle. There he studied piano, organ, 
and theory with the local organist, A. Lichmann. When 
he was fourteen, Dvorak—who up to that time had 
spoken only Bohemian—was sent to Kamnitz to study 
German. There organist Hancke taught him for a year. 
He began to show some indications of ability as a com- 
poser, and his father was finally persuaded to consent 
to having his son turn from steaks and cutlets to sonatas 
and symphonies. 

Accordingly, in October, 1857, he went to Prague to 
study at the Organ School for Church Music. His 
father’s means were so slender that the boy was forced 
to earn his own living by playing viola in one of the 
local cafés. Later he became a member of the orchestra 
of the National Theatre. Progress was slow in a land 
with so very many talented musicians. Nothing but 
genius could rise to the top. This Dvorak did, and 
became the greatest composer of his race. Smetana was 
the conductor of the National Theatre and helped his 
young landsman immensely. 


Dvorak was so poor during these days that he barely had 
money enough to buy the music he needed. One of his 
dreams was of the day when he should own a piano. For- 
tunately good friends assisted him now and then, and he 
went on writing and gaining in facility every day. When he 
was twenty-five he had completed a string quintet, two sym- 
phonies, a grand opera, and several songs. ‘The opera did 
not come up to his standards and he promptly burnt it up. 


By dint of playing and teaching he managed to eke 
out a meagre living; but it was not until 1873, when 
he was appointed organist of St Adalbert’s church, 
that he was comfortable enough in his means to feel 
that he might get married. After the production of his 
opera—The King and the Collier—Dvorak received a 
small pension from the state, which gave him more 
leisure for composition. In 1878 he produced his Slavic 
Dances which became very popular in Germany. 

In 1884, Dvorak was called to England to conduct 
his Stabat Mater, and in the next year he brought 
out his cantata The Spectre’s Bride at the Birmingham 
Festival. In 1891 he received the honorary degree of 
Mus. Doc. at Cambridge University. In 1892 he was 
called to America as the director of the National Con- 
servatory, in New York City. He remained in this 
country for three years. Among his American pupils 
are Harry Rowe Shelley, Harvey Worthington Loomis, 
Harry T. Burleigh, Harry Patterson Hopkins, and 
William Arms Fisher. Returning to Prague, he became 
the head of the National Conservatory. He died May 
1, 1904. 

His works are rich in imagination, filled with a kind 
of wild fervor, and at all times show his long intimacy 
with the orchestra. One of the most loved symphonies 
of recent times is the Dvorak New World Symphony, 
which embodies ideas culled from a more or less close 
study of Negro musical themes. Dvorak’s Humoresque, 


73 


. =~ (@) e~ Pp Ay o>: eS 
i eee EOS i Log ae ee 
ee! ee” Ga.” Sagas (ee OS EEE eee eee ee 


x WG =¥))i —<cff \= \WAT (NNW \\ AIS 
SRS IN AW Dye; ASNe. OSS CBW ye 
UpX 


Wire 


SaTUUHUUUUUAAAAUANUUAUAAACLUAATAAAN 


SY i 


which for many years went unrecognized, leapt into 
immense favor through the effective playing of Fritz 
Kreisler. 

Gustav Mahler 

Gustav Mahler remained in America from 1907 until 
the year of his death (1911), and during that time his 
genits was recognized by but a comparatively few 
people. In 1916 his Choral Symphony was produced in 
Philadelphia under the direction of Leopold Stokowski 
and the Philadelphia Orchestra many times to crowded 
houses. In a short time his name was in nearly every 
paper in the United States. Only a few years previous, 
in the same auditorium, Mahler conducted the New 
York Philharmonic Orchestra to what might almost be 
termed empty benches. Such is fame. Like Smetana 
and Dvorak, Mahler was born in Bohemia. His parents 
were Jewish merchants. His natal town was Kalischt, 
and the date of his birth July 7, 1860. His first music 
lessons received at the age of six cost one penny a 
piece. 

He was excellently educated at the Gymnasium at 
Prague and at the Vienna University. In 1877 he 
entered the Vienna Conservatory, and had among his 
masters Anton Bruckner. His great ability lay in the 
direction of conducting. No matter where he received 
a post—Cassel, Prague, Leipsic, Hamburg, London, 
Vienna or New York—he left the position with the 
orchestra on a higher level than ever before. As a 
conductor he was scholarly without being pedantic, 
authoritative without being stiff. In his young man- 
hood, Mahler wrote two operas—Die Argonauten and 
Rubezahl. These have not survived in popularity. 

His first symphony was produced in 1891, and others 
appeared at short intervals until in the year of his 


OOO OMNNNNTNN OOOO OIOIOIOIOIOIe 


Gustav MAHLER. 


death he had produced a series of notable works, in- 
cluding his famous Eighth Symphony—‘The Sym- 
phony of a Thousand.” This was first given in 1910 
in Munich, and immediately made a deep impression. 
Mahler’s cantata Das Klagende Lied is also one of his 
most noteworthy works. Mahler was a man of what 
might be called terrific energy, and he exhausted him- 
self in his work. Mahler came to America in 1907 
as a conductor for the Metropolitan Opera in New 
York. In 1909 he became conductor of the New York 
Philharmonic Orchestra. He returned to Europe and 
died May 18, 1911. 


Friedrich Smetana 

Smetana’s position is unique. He was the first 
Bohemian composer of note. He was born March 2, 
1824, at Leitomischl. His teachers were Prosch, at 
Prague, and Liszt. He first became known as a pianist 
and was a successful teacher in Prague. In 1856 he 
moved to Sweden, where he became director of the 
Philharmonic Society at Gothenburg. In 1866 he be- 
came director of the National Theatre in Prague, and 
in that year his delightful opera—Die Verkaufte Braut 
—was given with immense success. He wrote six other 
operas but none became as successful as The Bartered 
Bride. Deafness compelled him to resign his position 
at the opera house in 1874. It did not however deter 
him from continuing his work in composition. Of his 
symphonic poems, his Mein Vaterland is probably most 
worthy of notice. His string quartet in E minor—Aus 
meinem Leben is very popular with chamber music or- 
ganizations. In his closing years Smetana was afflicted 
with insanity, and died in an asylum May 12, 1884. 


Arnold Schoenberg 

The leading anarchist in modern musical history is 
unquestionably Arnold Schoenberg. There are those 
who would have us believe that he is a fanatic or a 
maniac rather than a thinking man working out a new 
style of musical art. Arnold Schoenberg was born 
September 13, 1874, in Vienna. He was a pupil of 
Zemlinsky, although he boasts of being mainly self- 
taught in music. For a time he aspired to be a painter 
and an artist. In 1901 he moved to Berlin, to act as 
conductor of the ‘“Buntes Theatre,” a liberal movement 
in the German drama headed by the poet Wolzogen 
and others. For a time he was the harmony teacher 
in the noted Stern Conservatory in Berlin. His early 
works consist principally of songs, and are in a style 
suggesting a mixture of Brahms and Mendelssohn, and 
they contain nothing extreme or peculiar in any way to 
offend the most conventional ear. In 1903 he re- 
turned to Vienna, where with a group of enthusiasts he 
formed the “Society for Creative Artists,” with Gustav 
Mahler as president. In 1910 he gave independent 


composition lectures at the Vienna Conservatorium. In 
1911 we find him again in Berlin, where he succeeded 
in having published his 484-page dissertation upon har- 
mony. This work appears only in the German language. 


@ 


LO ON OVO OO01 0101012 


ft 


(ot)! 


(0,110) 110) 110) 110) 110)17@) 
f 


\ 


JOVOUO, 


YOU 


YOVOUOL 


VOM 


h 


UOVDUOUOUT 
@ 


f 


ROACANORCRONCNONCNORORONCNONCNONCACRORONONCROAORORONONONO 


ORORORORORONORORONG 


if VOUT 
[\ 


YOU 


Du OUOUDUOUDY 


ErCRORORCRORORORCRCRORCRORCRCRORCRCRORCRORORCRCRORCRORONSS 


ARNOLD SCHOENBERG. 


Max REGeER. 


Comparatively few of Schoenberg’s manuscripts have 
been printed, but what has been published is so radical as 
to excite curiosity at once, and bring the composer an 
astonishing amount of publicity in a very few years. 
His first songs (Opus 1, 2, 3, 6) and his first string 
quartettes—Opus 7 and Opus 4—are so normal that 
they indicate that Schoenberg was perfectly capable 
of going on and writing in a manner which even the 
most scholastic critic would admit to be excellent if 
not eventful. They have been compared with the works 
of Mahler and Bruckner. His second stage of develop- 
ment included such works as the Gurrelieder (ponder- 
ous works for solo, orchestra and chorus) ; Pelleas and 
Melisande, a somewhat extenuated symphonic poem; 
a string quartette in F sharp minor. In 1908 he com- 
menced to manifest his iconoclastic tendencies in a 
manner which invited wide attention. His Three Piano- 
forte Pieces, Opus 11, were declared unplayable, a 
meaningless bouncing over the piano keys, while some 
found a peculiar beauty in his oddities. 


His subsequent works have done away with all the old 
conceptions of tonality, form, consonance or set ideas. It is 


‘musie which evidently is designed to record the wild musical 


thoughts which might come from the mind during a fugitive 
dream. Discords, odd rhythms, concords, and meaningless 
jumbles of sound all follow without any apparent law or 
reason. Nevertheless Schoenberg has many admirers who 
declare this to be the only natural music. His famous 
quartet, in which he introduced in chamber music many of 
the tricks which solo players alone had employed, was played 
with great success in America by leading string quartets. 


Max Reger 

Max Reger was born at Brand in the Oberpfalz 
(Germany), March 19, 1873. His birthplace is only a 
short distance from that of Gluck. His father was the 
music teacher in a nearby preparatory school. Bach 
was a kind of household god, and the boy was taught 
to play his works upon the piano and upon the har- 
monium. The boy was saturated during his youth 
with Brahms, Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner. His 
father desired him to become a teacher, but Reger 
after an eventful visit to Bayreuth—where he heard 
Parsifal and Meistersinger—determined to become a 
musician. He therefore became the pupil of the learned 
Dr. Hugo. Riemann. 

His first opus was a Sonata in D major for violin 
and piano. Strangely enough it was published in Lon- 
don rather than in Germany. In 1896 he was obliged 
to serve one year in the army. In 1901 he moved to 
Munich, and while his works were dubiously received 
by the critics, he made much progress. 

Unlike the other German composers, Reger gave 
little attention to the orchestra until he had produced 
his ninetieth opus. Songs, piano pieces, organ pieces, 
violin pieces made up the bulk of his work. All of his 
productions were of serious importance and demanded 
close study. It is probably for this reason that he 
failed to enjoy that popularity which has been so gener- 
ously bestowed on his contemporary, Richard Strauss. 
Strauss, notwithstanding his intellectual and technical 
capacity for writing works of gigantic scope and diffi- 


74 


culty, has nevertheless the ability to hit the popular 
fancy. Reger’s style is very complex—yet he allows 
himself more liberties than does Strauss. 

Reger spent some of his time as a teacher of theory at the 
Munich Royal Academy, the Conservatory at Wiesbaden, and 
finally became the professcr of music at the Leipsie Univer- 
sity. He wrote an excellent work upon harmony and upon 
modulation. His Symphony, Sonfonietta, Orchestra Serenade, 
and his concertos are rarely heard, but are greatly admired 
by many musicians. Reger died in 1916. 


Engelbert Humperdinck 

Blessed be Engelbert Humperdinck for producing a 
work that makes the wisest and soberest of us children 
again. Hdénsel und Gretel, the prettiest of all fairy 
operas, is now frequently performed in many cities. 

Humperdinck was born at Siegburg, Germany, Sep- 
tember 1, 1854. He had the customary thorough Ger- 
man school training up to the gymnasium. Then he 
entered the Cologne Conservatory, then under the direc- 
tion of Ferdinand Hiller. Later, in Munich, he studied 
with Lachner, and with Rheinberger at the Royal 
Music School. Winning the Mendelssohn prize in 1879, 
he went to Italy for further study. There fortune 
favored him: he met Richard Wagner in Naples. 
Wagner recognized the talent of the young composer 
and took him to Bayreuth to assist in the production 
of Parsifal. Next year, however, Humperdinck won 
the Meyerbeer prize in Berlin, and wisely spent more 
time in traveling in Italy, France and Spain. 

For two years he was the professor of theory at the 
Conservatory at Barcelona. Returning to Germany, he 
be¢ame a professor at the Hoch Conservatorium in 
Frankfort-am-Main, the teacher of harmony at Stock- 
hausen’s Vocal School, and a critic upon the Frank- 
furter Zeitung. After producing some successful 
choral and orchestral works, he brought out his Hansel 
und Gretel in 1895, in Weimar, Since then he has pro- 
duced no work which has attained anything like the 
popularity of his masterpiece, although his Koenigs- 
kinder (written in 1896 and revived later in New York 
at the Metropolitan) has had several successful per- 
formances. In 1900 Humperdinck went to reside in 
Berlin, where the Kaiser made him a member of the 
Senate of the Royal Academy of Art and head of the 
Meister Schule for Musical Composition, Among 
Humperdinck’s other works are A Moorish Symphony, 
operas Dornroschen, Die Heimath Wieder Willen, and 
musical settings to the spectacle The Miracle. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Who is considered the greatest of Bohemian com- 
posers? E 

2. Who composed ‘‘The Symphony of a Thousand?” 

3. Which famous Bohemian composer died of insanity? 

4. Who has been considered “the foremost anarchist in 
modern musical history?’ 

5. Who has made a reputation despite the fact that 
only a few manuscripts have been published? 

6. Whose organ music is thought to be comparable with 
that of J. S. Bach? 

7. Which celebrated German composer of the present has 
paid very little attention to the orchestra? 

8. What famous work of Mendelssohn was misunder- 
stood when it was first produced? 

9. Who has written the most successful fairy opera? 

10. Name some of the recent works of Humperdinck. 


ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK, 


a 


ep oe an 


SS ———— > 


ce 


Ell 


Ve 


Su Se 


Women in Music 


THERE seems to be an erroneous impression that the 
work of women in the art of which St. Cecelia is the 
patron saint, is something very new and somewhai to 
be questioned. As a matter of fact there was a pupil of 
Haydn and Porpora, named Marianne Martines, who 
produced an oratorio named “Isacco,” as long ago as 
1788, with great success, in Vienna. Another musician 


who gained note as a composer was Maria Theresa 


Mrs. H. H. A. BEAcnu. 


von Paradies (1759-1824). She was blind from her 
fifth year. She could play sixty concertos for piano 
from memory. She wrote operas, operettas, pieces and 
songs with facility. Clara Schumann (Clara Weick, 
born 1819; died 1896) was extremely gifted as a com- 
poser-as well as a pianist. She published a number of 
pianoforte pieces and songs. Augusta Holmes (1847- 
1903), of Irish parentage but a native of Paris, is 
credited with three operas, as well as symphonies, 
symphonic odes and suites, and one hundred songs. 
Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910) wrote three operas 
and many useful vocal studies. Fanny Hensel (1805- 
1847), Mendelssohn’s sister, was highly gifted as a com- 
poser. 

In England we meet with many names of women in 
music which bring great credit to their art. After a 
period of rather banal ballads by ‘“‘Claribel” (Mrs. 
Charles Barnard), and “Dolores” (Ellen Dickson), we 
find Alice Mary Smith, who wrote many excellent 
cantatas and the ever-beautiful duet, “Oh, That We 
Two were Maying;” Amy Elsie Horrocks, who com- 
posed a symphony, as did her lesser known sisters in 
art, Edith Green and Edith A. Chamberlayne. Mrs. 
Rhoads (Guy d’Hardelot), Frances Allitsen, Maude 


SZ PAM \WAIFG RP ARP HAVA HHOADIONS 
NA NGAWia WE LOSS CMA 


S 


Famous Women Composers 


SUUVNUANUNUNIEEOGANINAUEETANUUONUAUANAAAONGNAROQQGQUGONGOERTEUOGAOAOORUTREEUGGUERGOOROUERAOUOGEGSUOLOOUUUOOTRE 
Ue eae a aa cee ace ae a oe 


) 


YY 
LIQ Axe 
: BWW 


YSSy 


NSS 


si 
ON 


QZ Ase 


Valerie White, Teresa del Riego, Ellen Wright, and 
other English women have written many excellent 
songs which are not likely to be forgotten for many a 
year. 

In America a rather astonishing number of women 
composers of decided accomplishments and merit have 
developed during the last twenty-five years. Among 
them are: Helen J. Andrus, Mrs. E. L. Ashford, Cora 
S. Briggs, Mary Helen Brown, Carrie Jacobs Bond, 
L. A. Bugbee, Jean Bohannan, Helen L. Cramm, Theo- 
dora Dutton, Mrs. R. R. Forman, Fay Foster, Jessie 
L. Gaynor, Celeste D. Heckscher, Helen Hood, Marga- 
ret R. Lang, Matilee Loeb-Evans, Grace Marschal- 
Loepke, A. F. Loud, Grace Mayhew, Marguerite Mel- 
ville, Mrs. L. E. Orth, E. A. Park, Agnes Clune Quin- 
lan, Caro Roma, Julie Rivé-King, Mary Turner Salter 
and many others. Space limitations prevent us from 
giving detailed attention to more than a few whose 
immense popularity make them subjects for special 
discussion. 

Mrs. H. H. A. Beach 


America may be especially proud of Mrs. H. H. A. 
Beach not only because of her splendid accomplish- 
ments, but because of the fact that her education is 
entirely American. She was born Mary Marcy Cheney, 
in Henniker, N. H., September 5, 1867. Her ancestry 
goes back to some of the first New England colonists. 
Her father had very strong inclinations toward mathe- 
matics. Her mother was decidedly musical and culti- 
vated in the child an early love in the art in which 
she was to become so distinguished. 

When she was four years old she commenced to 
find her way to the piano keyboard and commenced 
immediately to devise little melodies which attracted 
the attention of her friends. Apparently without in- 
struction, she was able to transpose any melody that 
was given to her. Her ear was remarkable and she 
had the gift of absolute pitch. At the age of six her 
mother commenced to teach the little girl regularly, 
and when the child was seven years old she played 
many times in public. Her repertoire then consisted 
of the simple works of Beethoven, Chopin and other 
masters, as well as little compositions of her own. 

When she was eight a fortunate move took the 
Cheney family to Boston, where it was possible to 
continue the child’s education amid metropolitan ad- 
vantages. At that time she was so advanced that com- 
petent authorities pronouced her in every way capable 
of entering any of the great European conservatories. 
Fortunately her parents had the good sense to avoid 
forcing her musical education, and she was accordingly 
advanced in her general education. 

The little musician delighted in recording the sounds 
of nature—particularly those of the wild birds. She 
grew up as a natural child and lived much of her time 
in the open. Her teachers were at first Ernst Perabo, 
a well-known concert pianist and pupil of Moscheles, 
Richter, Hauptmann and Reinecke. Perabo spent most 
of his life in Boston, where he had over one thousand 
pupils during many years. Her next teacher was Karl 
Baermann (a pupil of Franz Liszt), who was also one 
of Boston’s leading teachers for many, many years. 
The girl then studied harmony with Junius Welch Hill, 
an American, who had had a thorough German school- 
ing under Moscheles, Plaidy, Richter, Reinecke and 
Hauptmann. In counterpoint, composition and or- 
chestration she was almost entirely self-taught. In 
order to show how thoroughly she worked it may be 
said that since there were no English translations of 


75 


go As ay 5 ny > 2 > Tie oe 
See ae ae De eS = Eas: os 


QLUEUUAREENVASOOEAVAOAOAREOAAOAOEGAOODTAEOATAEATOOERAEAUAAATUTARUUEGAAATAAUAGE AERA 


> eS 


fr 


NB Ure INN 


the great works on orchestration by Berlioz and 
Gevaert she studied French expressly to make her own 
translations of these master treatises. Her real début 
was made in Boston as a pianist when she was sixteen 
years of age. Her numbers were the FE flat Rondo of 
Chopin and the Moscheles Concerto in G minor which 
she played with orchestra. Her development was so 
rapid that during the ensuing winter she was sought 
as a soloist with large American orchestras. When she 
was seventeen she played the Chopin F minor concerto 
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, under the baton 
of the stern and severe Gericke, and later played the 
Mendelssohn D minor concerto with the Theodore 
Thomas Orchestra, under the famous conductor him- 
self. These performances brought her into immediate 
fame with American audiences. This was particularly 
extraordinary in 1884, as our public was not as yet 
educated to accept virtuosi who had not had the benefit 
of a European début. A series of recitals in different 
Eastern cities followed. 

In 1885 Mrs. Beach married the distinguished sur- 
geon, Dr. H. H. A. Beach, who was for many years 
a lecturer upon anatomy at Harvard University. Dr. 
Beach was devoted to music and a source of continual 
encouragement to his talented wife. Until his death 
in 1912, the married life of the gifted couple was ideal. 
In fact, it was Dr. Beach who incited his wife to more 
and more ambitious endeavors in the field of musical 
composition. In 1892 she composed a Mass in E Fiat, 
shortly thereafter came Eilende JWVolken, a Festival 
Jubilate, for the opening of the Woman’s Building of 
the Chicago World’s Fair. In 1896 the Gaelic Symphony 
appeared and also a violin Sonata. Her many songs 
and pieces in smaller forms have been received with 


CrciLeE CHAMINADE. 


Liza LEHMANN. 


immense favor. Mrs. Beach has a delightful gift of 
melody, an impassioned mode of expression and rich 
breadth in all of her treatment of the material she 
selects. In 1913 she appeared with great success in 
Europe, where her Symphony in E flat, her piano 
Concerto in C sharp minor and other works met with 
decided favor. In recent years Mrs. Beach has toured 
America many times. Her pianoforte playing is 
scholarly without being pedantic. She has the gift of 
communicating her own ideas to her audiences in a 
most fascinating manner. 


Cécile Chaminade 


Few composers in the last fifty years have had the 
good fortune to have their works as extensively played 
as Cécile Chaminade. The gifted French woman has 
written in such a very charming style that people of all 
countries of Europe seem to appreciate her piano pieces 
and songs with equal eagerness. She was born in Paris, 
August 8, 1861. Her interest in music dates from her 
earliest childhood. In her own words she says: 

“While quite a tiny tot I used to compose, and it 
seems to me that I have always possessed an instru- 
ment upon which to express my thoughts. My cat and 
my dogs, like everything else, were merely an excuse 
for a musical parade. My dolls danced the pavan. 
I. dedicated slumber songs to my dogs and to my cat, 
whose ways were mysterious and unaccountable. I 
would compose a nocturne or a serenade Ilunaire— 
surely nothing is more fitting to a cat than a moon- 
light serenade.” 

Her musical training, which was commenced at a 
very early age, Was peculiar in many ways. At first 
she came under the influence of Bizet, who took an 
immediate and deep interest in the talented child. She 
describes him as “a stout, swarthy gentleman, who 
made me play all the pieces I knew.” The composer of 
Carmen advised Chaminade’s father to “give the child 
all possible opportunity for coming to the front, but, 
above all things, do not bore her.” 

She next went to the Conservatoire, where her teacher 
was Felix Le Couppey, the authot of a famous series of 
elementary etudes for piano students. Le Couppey, 
while a little old fashioned (he was Henri Hérz’ suc- 
cessor at the conservatory), was nevertheless very prac- 
tical and very efficient. Among other things he organ- 
ladies at the conservatory. 
Chaminade describes him as “an earnest man, possess- 
ing many curious mannerisms and_ eccentricities.” 
Amongst other things he was never to be seen without 
his box of candies. Even when teaching it remained 
open beside him and he never ceased devouring the 
bon bons. “He has a most astonishing capacity for 
work, and never took any rest, believing it time 
wasted.” 

Later she studied harmony counterpoint and fugue 


ized a class for young 


with Savard, an illustrious author of French words 
upon theory. He was “very scholarly, pedantic and 
over-fond of rules. He never permitted anyone free- 
dom of fancy, and to my mind he opposed more than 
he should have done any tendency toward originality 
upon the part of the student. He invariably com- 
menced by finding everything bad. At first my respect 
for his authority effectually paralyzed the rebellious 
feelings that crowded upon me, but little by little I 
became less in awe of him.” 

Chaminade’s next teacher was Benjamin Godard. 
Godard was at first a violinist, having been a pupil of 
the great Vieuxtemps. He is best known now, however, 
as a composer of very charming pieces for the piano- 
forte. He wrote seven dramatic works, but little is 
known of these aside from the Berceuse from Jocelyn. 
Chaminade describes him as “Very tall, incredibly 
stern and as unyielding as a stick. His hair, which 
was as inflexible as his body, was worn very long. 
Speaking little, much given to self-communion, he re- 
sembled some vague legendary spirit. Godard’s stiff- 
ness and reserve earned him some enemies, who at- 
tacked his music more than his personality.” 

Chabrier and Moszkowski (Chaminade’s brother-in- 
law) also had much to do with moulding the career 
of the young composer. 

The numerous charming pianoforte pieces and songs, 
which seem the very embodiment of spontaneity, are, 
according to the composer, the result of an unusual 
amount of reflection, care and “polishing.” She writes 
of them: “When I complete a work, I am reluctant to 
have it published immediately, prefering to keep it 
hidden in a drawer for some considerable time, until 
I come across it again, and find that I have confidence 
in it.” 

In 1889 Chaminade played her Concertstiick for piano 
and orchestra with the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris. 
This marked her début as a pianist. Since then she 
has made repeated tours of many countries with 
great success. Her ballet-symphony Callirhoé, and her 
Symphonie Lyrique, Les Amazons, have been given with 
success in Europe. 


Liza Lehmann 


Elizabetta Nina Mary Fredrika Lehmann, best known 
to the public as Liza Lehmann, is a grand-daughter 
of Robert Chambers of Edinborough,:and a daughter 
of the famous painter Rudolf Lehmann. She was born 
in London in 1862. Her mother was a very accom- 
plished singer and musician who arranged many old 
songs under the modest non de plume of A. L. The 
Lehmann home in London was the rendevouz of many 
distinguished people including great painters, poets and 
musicians. The girl’s first teacher was her mother who 
taught her the art of singing. Her talent was so great 
that after she had studied singing with Randegger, she 
was sent abroad to study with Raunkilde in Rome, 
Freudenberg at Wiesbanden, and then with the late 
Hamish MacCunn. 


In 1885 she made her début at the London Monday 
Popular Concerts, and for over nine years she was one 
of the favorite singers of ballads and art songs in 
England. On one occasion Mme. Clara Schumann 
chose her to sing Schumann’s Nussbaum and Friih- 
lingsnacht and accompanied her at the piano. In 1894, 
she gave a farewell concert in St. James Hall and 
retired to become the wife of Herbert Bedford, an 
English composer of decided gifts. In 1896, she sur- 
prised musicians with her very: beautiful setting of 
parts of the Fitzgerald translation of the Omar Khay- 
yam KRubdiyat-under the title In a Persian Garden. 
This work was so successful that it started a vogue 
for song cycles. It was only with the very greatest 
difficulty that Mme. Lehmann was able to secure a 
publisher for her work. Even after it had been printed, 
it did not meet with favor until it was presented in 
America. Here it created a furore and ever since it 
has remained the most popular work of its kind. This 
inspired Mme. Lehmann to write other cycles and many 
interesting songs, to say nothing of a comic opera 
Sargeant Brue. 


Anent the composition of Jn a Persian Garden, 
she once said, “It was my first work of any significance 
and was written just outside the city of London where 
we were living in a little home located in the middle 
of an apple orchard. I was very deeply impressed with 
the wonderful beauty of the oriental poem and with 
the blossoming apple trees all about I was very happy. 
I am always happiest when I am composing. One 


76 


might as well ask me whence come the birds in Spring- 
time as to inquire where the melodies come from,” 
Her opera The Vicar of Wakefield, modeled after 
the famous Goldsmith work has been given with notable 
success with our own David Bispham in the title role. 


Mme. Teresa Carreno 

Mme. Carrefio was born at Caracas, Venezuela, De- 
cember 22nd, 1853. She is a descendant of the re-, 
nowned South American liberator, Simon Boliver. 
Her father was the Minister of Finance in Venezuela, 
but owing to a reduction of the family resources, the 
little pianist was brought to New York at a very early 
age and grew up in the great metropolis. There she 
studied with L. M. Gottschalk. Later she studied under 
Georg Mathias and Anton Rubinstein. When only nine 
years of age she made her first public appearance at 
the New York Academy of Music and thereafter made 
a tour of the United States. She was also very ac- 
complished as a singer and on four days notice she 
sang the part of the Queen in Les Hugenots in the 
company of the great impressario Mapleson. For some 
time she was a regular member of the opera company 
which included Brignoli and Tagliapietra. When tour- 
ing in Venezuela with an opera company a quarrel 
arose between the members and the conductor. Mme. 
Carrefio then took over the post of conductor and held 
it for three weeks until a new conductor could be 
secured. It was not until 1889 that she redppeared as 
a professional pianist and astonished her friends and 
the public in general by her highly individual and 
always artistic playing. Her compositions for piano 
are fluent and original. One of her most interesting 
works is a string quartet in B. The Venezuelan Na- 
tional Hymn is her composition. 


Ethel Mary Smyth 


This unusual composer of works in larger forms was 
born in London, April 23, 1858. Her father.was a 
general of the Royal Artillery. For a time she studied 
at Leipsic at the conservatorium and then with Hein- 
rich von Herzogen. For the most part however, she 
is self taught. As early as 1884 her string quartet 
was given in Germany, meeting with great favor. Her 
solemn Mass in D was given at the Royal Albert Hall 
in London in 1893, Since then she has produced many 
works of large dimensions, such as the one act opera 
Der Wald, and the three act The Wreckers. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Name at least ten women composers of the past and 
present. : 

2. Tell something of the musical training of Mrs. 
H. H. A. Beach. 

3. What made Mrs. Beach’s debut as a pianist unusual? 

4. Who is the best known French woman composer? 

5. Who were Chaminade’s teachers? 

6. Give some facts about the ancestry and education of 
Liza Lehmann, 

7. What is Liza Lehmann’s most famous work? 

8. Who was the most famous South American woman 
composer? 

9. Tell something of the versatility of Carrefo. 

10. Name an English woman composer of operas. 


ONONON 


— 


Mme. TrerEsA CARRENO. 


— 


Modern English Composers 


However insular England may have been in its musi- 
cal past, the little group of British islands has been so 
closely tied to the musical activities of the Continent 
during the past century that London, during its inter- 
esting season, presents very nearly the same attractions 
that Paris, Berlin, Munich, Milan, and Petrograd may 
boast. 


Str CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD. 


With the founding of the Royal Academy of Music 
in 1822, and the Royal College of Music in 1882, we 
find England returning to those aspirations for musi- 
cal supremacy which made it foremost in the tone art 
during the time of Dunstable and Purcell. Thus, from 
the labors of such pioneers in British musical educa- 
tion as Doctor Crotch, Cipriani Potter, Atwood, Great- 
orex, Sir George Smart, Macfarren, Barnby, Sterndale 
Bennett, Grove, Parrett, Martin, Prout, and others, 
new heights have been reached in musical composition. 
The following biographies include only a few of the 
foremost British musicians of the present. 


Edward Elgar 

Singularly enough, the best known English composer 
is not an “academic.” Sir Edward Elgar, almost en- 
tirely self-taught, ranks easily at the head of the 
English creative artists in the tone world. He was 
born at Broadheath, Worcester, June 2, 1857. His 
father was organist of St. George’s Roman Catholic 
Church in. Worcester, for many years, and was also a 
good violinist. The elder Elgar established a success- 
ful music-selling business and the son reveled in oppor- 
tunities to explore the shelves and become acquainted 
with many masterpieces. 

Edward went to a local school, where he had some 
elementary instruction in pianoforte playing. A friend 
of the family gave him a few hints on violin technic. 
He had no instruction in harmony, counterpoint, canon, 
fugue, orchestration, form, or anything of the sort. 
All that he learned he dug out of books and personal 
experience. At fifteen, his parents placed Edward in a 
solicitor’s office for one year. The boy then went into 
his father’s business as a clerk, at the same time study- 
ing the organ, with some assistance from his father. 
In addition to the organ he also learned to play the 
violin, the piano, and the bassoon. Finally he was 
admitted to the violin section of the Worcester Fes- 
tival Orchestra, He was also a member of the Worces- 


ter Glee Club, which made a specialty of singing the 
excellent works of old English composers. At twenty- 
two, Elgar became conductor of the Worcester County 
Lunatic Asylum band, where he taught the attendants 
to play for the inmates. Much of his time was spent 
in making arrangements of trifling Christy minstrel 
songs for the band. At fifteen he had five lessons 
from the famous violin teacher, Politzer. Lack of 
funds prevented Elgar from going to Leipsic to study. 
At eighteen he succeeded his father as organist of St. 
George’s Roman Catholic Church, in Worcester. In 
1889 he married the daughter of General H. C. Rob- 
erts, K. C. B., and went to live in London. 


In the English capital Elgar continued his great activity 
in personal research in the technic of his art. In 1893 his 
first work of note, The Black Knight, was produced in 
Worcester. Then came a rapid succession of significant com- 
positions, leading to The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles 
and other works. Elgar’s compositions are for the most part 
in the larger forms and therefore do not appear especially 
numerous. He has written nothing that does not show fine 
musical feeling, constructive genius and masterly orchestral 
treatment. Even in his popular march, Pomp and Circum- 
stance, there -is a dignity and splendor which is as warmly 
appreciated by the general audience as it is by the trained 
musician. Rich coloring, strong melodic lines, well-marked 
rhythms, unanticipated harmonies and absence of mawkish- 
ness are the characteristics which make the work of this 
British composer distinct and apart from that of many 
music workers of the present day. Elgar has received the 
degree of Doctor of Music from Cambridge, Oxford, Durham 


and Yale. He was knighted in 1904, 
Granville Bantock 
Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London, 


August 7, 1868, the son of an eminent London surgeon. 
Although the boy commenced the study of piano at 
the age of six, it was not until ten years after that 
time, when his parents were insisting upon his ent» ring 
the Indian Civil Service, that he conceived a s‘rong 
desire to be a musician. Finally he overcame his 
father’s ambitions, and after taking a few private 
lessons in composition from Dr. G. Saunders, he en- 
tered the Royal Academy, where he studied with Fred- 
erick Corder. After the first term he won the Mac- 
farren Scholarship. During the time that he was at 
the academy he produced many works of decided merit. 
For three years he edited and published a very useful 
little magazine known as The New Quarterly Musical 
Review. At the same time he became affiliated with 
the famous George Edwards, of Gaiety Theatre fame, 
and was the conductor of the noted musical comedies 
produced at that time. In 1894 and 1895 he toured 
the world with the Edwards companies. In 1897 he 
became conductor in New Brighton, at first having a 
military band, but later having a fine concert orchestra, 
giving excellent concerts of. the works of such British 
composers as Parry, Corder, Stanford, German, Elgar, 
Hinton, and Cowen. . He also organized a highly suc- 
cessful Choral Society at New Brighton. In 1900 he 
became the principal of the Birmingham and Midland 
Institute School of Music, and in the next year became 
the conductor of the Wolverhampton Festival Choral 
Society and the Birmingham Amateur Orchestral Soci- 
ety. He has also done much to exploit the works of 
British composers on the Continent. 

Bantock’s compositions have a strong tendency toward 
program music. Many of his works are based upon oriental 
subjects, such as his Juga-Naut and his setting of the 
Rubaiyat. There is much striking originality, harmonic 
strength and distinctive character in everything this notable 
composer has done. In 1908 he succeeded Sir Hdward Elgar 
as Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham. 

Cyril Scott 

Cyril Scott, born at Oxton, Cheshire, September, 
1879, is the son of the well-known Greek scholar, 
Henry Scott. This composer has been described as 
“the English Debussy.” At the age of seventeen he 
went to Germany where he studied under the radical 
Prof. Iwan Knorr. Abandoning in a measure distinct 
and separated strains in his melodies he employs a 
continuously flowing melody with chromatic harmonies 
and very slight key stability. His orchestral works, 
such as the Christmas Overture, Princess Maleine, 
Pelleas and Melisande, are not so well known as his 
many charming pieces for piano and for violin and 
piano, such as Danse Negre, Valse Caprice, Song 
From the East, Leuto and Allegro, Asphodel and The 
Jungle Book, all representing genius of the highest 
character, 

Zi. 


Mr. Scott is an able and original writer upon musi- 
cal subjects. Many of his articles have appeared in 
Tue ETupe. 


Sir Charles Villiers Stanford 

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Mus.D, D.C.L., 
LL.D., is the most distinguished composer of the 
present day, of Irish birth. He was born September 
30, 1852, at Dublin. His father was a jurist, who tool< 
a keen interest in music. The boy’s teachers in Ire- 
land were Arthur O’Leary and Sir Robert Stewart. 
Later he went to Cambridge University, where after 
four brilliant years, he graduated in 1874 with honors. 
Thereafter he continued his studies with Reinecke, in 
Leipsic, and with Kiel, in Berlin. In 1876 he wrote 
the incidental music for Tennyson’s Queen Mary, at 
the poet’s suggestion. About the same time he wrote 
a Symphony (B flat), which met with decided favor. 
In addition to great activity in the work of composi- 
tion he worked indefatigably to interest the British 
musical public in the compositions of Brahms and 
other contemporary Continental musicians. In 1885 he 
became conductor of the Bach Choir, and in 1887, 
Professor of Music at ‘the University of Cambridge, 
upon the death of Sir G. A, Macfarren. When the 
Royal Coilege of Music was founded Stanford became 
the Professor of Composition as well as the conductor 
of the orchestra, which is one of the finest of its 
kind in Europe. He was knighted in 1901, and in the 
same year received the conductorship of the Leeds 
Festival. In 1904 he became a member of the Royal 
Academy of Arts of Berlin. 


His best known works are his opera, Shamus O’Brien, Irish 
Rhapsodies and his Irish Symphonies, although Savonarola 
and the Canturbury Pilgrims were very highly praised when 
thev were given in London. Stanford has written far more 
voluminously than some musicians are aware. His work long 
ago passed the 100 opus mark, and many of these are com- 
positions of length and moment—not merely collections of 


Songs and short piano pieces. Strength, combined with a 
facile technic and a romantic mind account for much of his 
distinguished success. 


Sir Epwarp ELcar. 


Frederick Corder 

Few musicians of the present generation have had 
a stronger influence upon the music of England than 
has Mr. Frederick Corder. Original in the extreme, 
invested with splendid common sense and blessed with 
humor, he has inspired many of the younger men to 
free themselves from conventionalism and strike out 
for a newer and more characteristic mode of expres- 


Sir Hupert PARRY. 


sion. Mr. Corder was born in London January 26, 
1852. At first he was destined for a business career. 
His employer failed, however, and Corder went to 
the Royal Academy of Music, where he manifested 
such unusual originality in his work in composition 
that he was given the Mendelssohn Scholarship after 
one year and a half study. Accordingly he went to 
Cologne, where he studied with Hiller for four years. 
Upon his return he went to the Brighton Aquarium, 
where he conducted the orchestra and improved both 
the organization and the character of the programs. 
His opera, Nordissa, was given by the Carl Rosa Com- 
pany in 1887. He is the Professor of Composition at 
the Royal Academy of Music, and has also held the 
position of Curator in that institution since 1890. An 
ardent admirer of Wagner, he wrote the English text 
for most of the Wagnerian operas. In addition to his 
numerous works for the stage, orchestra, and chorus, 
he has written excellent books upon Composition and 
Instrumentation, and has contributed extremely instruc- 
tive and entertaining articles to many foremost maga- 
zines, including many to THE Erupe. Several of the 
most brilliant English composers of to-day have been 
pupils of Mr. Corder. 


Alexander Campbell Mackenzie 


Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie is the son of a 
musician, the grandson of a musician and the great- 
grandson of a musician. Born in Edinburgh August 
22, 1847, he was sent to Schwartzburg-Sondershausen 
when he was ten years old. There he studied with 
Ulrich and Stein. He became the second violin in 
the ducal orchestra and was drilled daily for years in 
the great music of classic and modern masters. In 
1862 he returned to London, where he won the King’s 
Scholarship in the Royal Academy of Music. Return- 
ing to Edinburgh as a violinist and conductor, he 
rapidly became the leader of musical life in the Scotch 
metropolis, making regular trips to play at the Bir- 
mingham festivals for many years. His health broke 
down through overwork and for ten years he resided 
in Florence, Italy. There he found the treasured time 
to complete many projected compositions. His serv- 
ices as a conductor were so much in demand in London 
that he was forced to return to England, where he 
has since resided. There he produced his opera, Col- 
ombo, his oratorio, The Rose of Sharon, and his 
Scotch Rhapsodie Burns. Upon the death of Sir 
George Macfarren he became principal of the Royal 
Academy of Music (1888). For seven years he was 
conductor of the Philharmonic Society, in London. He 
has received many distinctions, academic and other- 
wise, from British and Continental bodies. In 1895 
he was knighted. Mackenzie has written over eighty 
works of great musical interest. His varied and busy 


life, together with the romanticism of his native land, 
make his compositions works of fine musical character 
and force. 


Sir Hubert Parry 


In attempting to appreciate the splendid amount of 
serious musical accomplishment in England during the 
last fifty years, no name comes more readily to the 
mind than that of Sir Hubert Parry. The son of a 
distinguished painter and art patron, Parry was born 


at Bournemouth, February 27, 1848, and educated in ~ 


the English public schools (Malvern Twyford, Eaton); 
and at Exeter College, Oxford. He was so advanced 
in music in his youth that before entering Oxford 
he was able to take the University Examinations in 
music and receive his degree of Mus. Bac. His 
teachers in music in England were Samuel Sebatien 
Wesley, Sterndale Bennett, and G. A. Macfarren. For 
a time he went to Stuttgart, Germany, to study with 
H. H. Pierson. After leaving the university he was 
employed at Lloyds, London, for nearly three years. 

Parry was fortunate in having his pianoforte con- 
certo produced under the influential baton of Edward 
Dannreuther, at the Crystal Palace, in 1880. From 
1882 to 1889 he produced four symphonies. He has 
been criticized for depending more upon well-worked- 
out musical ideas than upon orchestral color for his 
effects. It is as a choral composer that he has reached 
his greatest heights, Prometheus Unbound, Blest Pair 
of Sirens, The Pied Piper, are works that will endure, 
as they are not made of transient tonal idioms. 


In 19100 he became the Professor of Musie at Oxford, and 
in 1894 succeeded Sir George Grove as Director of the Royal 
College of Music of London. He was knighted in 1898 and 
created a baronet in 1903. No inconsiderable part of his 
work has been his most interesting and informing literary 
musical discussions of various phases of musical history, 
No better book on music has ever been written than The 
Evolution of the Art of Music. His work as a composer 
has been very voluminous in every branch of the art. 


John Frederick Bridge 


Sir John Frederick Bridge was born at Oldbury, 
near Birmingham, December 5, 1844. His early educa- 
tion was received when he was a choir boy under 
J. L. Hopkins and John Hopkins, at Rochester Cathe- 
dral. Thereafter he studied with Sir John Goss and 
also took the degree of Mus. Doc. at Oxford (1874). 
For six years he was organist of Manchester Cathe- 
dral, and in 1882 became the organist of Westminster 
Abbey. In 1903 he became the Professor of Music 
at the University of London. He was knighted by 
Queen Victoria in 1897. His best known works are 
his vigorous and spirited anthems for church service. 
His numerous choral works, notably his oratorio, 
Mount Moriah, are very highly regarded. 


Frederick Hymen Cowen 
Frederick Hymen Cowen was born at Kingston, 


“Jamaica, January 29, 1852. His talent for music devel- 


oped at a very early age and two years after he was 
brought to England (1858) he published a waltz, which 
was said to contain much musical merit. At the age 
of eight he composed an opera called Garibaldi. He 
then became a pupil of Sir John Goss and Sir Julius 
Benedict. In 1865 he was taken to Leipsic by his 
parents. There he studied with Plaidy, Moscheles, 
Reinecke, Richter, and Hauptmann. Later he became 
a pupil of Kiel at the Stern Conservatorium. In 1869 
Cowen, when only seventeen years old, produced his 
Symphony in C Minor, and played his Pianoforte Con- 
certo in A Minor at a concert given in St. James’ Hall, 
London. Thereafter his fame as a conductor and as 
a composer greatly increased. His choral works, The 
Corsair, St. Ursula, Ruth, The Transfiguration, etc., 
have been given performances at the great English 
Festivals, while The Rose Maiden has been performed 
by almost every small choral society on eartn. 


Four of his operas have been given with success in 
England and Italy. Many of his songs, of which he has 
written over three hundred, have been very popular. As a 
conductor, Cowen is one of the most distinguished in Eng- 
land. He has directed numerous important festivals and has 
been conductor of the London Philharmonie Society upon 
two occasions, for several years at a time. In 1900 the 
degree of Mus. Doc. was conferred upon him by Cambridge 
University. He was knighted in 1911. 


Samuel Coleridge-Taylor 


It is a poor compliment to refer to Samuel Coleridge- 
Taylor as the greatest composer of his race, as his 
work, like that of our American, Harry Burleigh, 
ranks far superior to that of many white composers. 
Coleridge-Taylor was born August 15, 1875, in London, 
His father, a physician, was a pure-blooded negro, 
native of Sierra Leone, Africa. His mother was a 
white English woman. In the boy’s childhood he 


78 


studied violin and was a chorister in St. George’s 
Church, Croyden. In 1890 he became a pupil af the 
Royal College of Music, studying the violin and also 


composition under Stanford, who conducted a sym- 


phony by his pupil at St. James’ Hall, in 1896. Al- 
though the composer of much excellent choral and 
orchestral music, Coleridge-Taylor is now best known 
by his very beautiful setting of Longfellow’s Hiawatha, 
in three parts: J. Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, II. The 
Death of Minnehaha, and III. Hiawatha’s Departure. 
The first section of this work was first produced in 
1898 at the Royal College of Music. 


Coleridge-Taylor also wrote much exceedingly effective in- 
cidental music for the Stephen Phillips dramas, Herod, 
Ulysses, Nero and Faust. In 1904 be became conductor of 
the famous Handel Society, in which Sir John Stainer, Sir 
Julius Benedict, Sir Hubert Parry, Hon. Arthur J. Balfour, 
Sir Walter Parrett, Dr. Ebeneezer Prout and others took an 
active part. He died September 1, 1916. 


Percy Grainger 


As Mr. Grainger is at the time of present writing, 
an oboeist in the United States army, and therefore 
a citizen of the United States, he might not be classed 
as a modern British composer, but since he was born 
at Melbourne, Australia, July 8, 1882, and achieved 
most of his triumphs as a pianist and as a composer 
in Europe, it is difficult to know how to classify this 
rare and brilliant artist. After study in Australia with 
Louis Pabst, Grainger went to Germany, where he 
came under the tuition of James Kwuast and F. L. 
Busoni. Grieg took an immense interest in Grainger, 
in fact became his musical foster-father. It was this 
interest which induced Grainger to endeavor to con- 
serve the rare British folk music, which for lack of 
modern treatment was falling into disuse. 


This resulted in the composition of such distinetive pieces 
as Molly on the Shore, Handel of the Strand, Mock Morris. 
His pianoforte arrangement of Tschaikowsky’s Flower Waltz, 
from the Casse Noisette suite, has been very much played. 
As a pianist Mr. Grainger bas met with distinguished suc- 
cess. His keyboard methods are in many ways different from 
those of other pianists, and through them he has been able 
to achieve different and distinctive results. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 

1. When were the Royal Academy and the Royal College 
founded? 
2. Give some facts about the education of Elgar, 
Tell something of the career of Granville Bantock. 
4. Who is known as ‘“‘the English Debussy?’ 
5. Who is called ‘‘the most distinguished composer of 
Trish birth?” 

6. Who has been the teacher of several of the most 
brilliant English composers of the present day? 

7. Who succeeded Sir George Macfarren as head of the 
Royal Academy? 

8. Which English composer is the son of a distinguished 
painter? 

9. Which noted English song writer was born 
Jamaica? ; 

10. Which famous English composer is partly of negro 
blood? 


oo fb 


in 


Srr ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, MACKENZIE. 


Composers of Music of Wide Human Appeal 


THE number of composers who are best known for 
a few of their compositions is really quite remarkable. 
This is sometimes taken as a reflection upon their 
capacity or their versatility whereas it is really one of 
the cruel machinations of Fate. The poet, Gray, is 
celebrated for his famous Elegy in a Country Church- 
yard, but Gray was known to have been a man of dis- 
tinguished ability and wide human interest. That one 
of his works should have survived and others been 
ignored means that the one masterpiece dealt with a 
subject of wide human appeal and interest. The vital- 
ity of Shakespeare does not depend so much upon his 
skill as a dramatic poet as upon his wide human pur- 
view,—his sympathetic touch with the great throb of 
time. 


Many composers have gone down to fame as “one 
masterpiece” composers. At present Mascagni would 
be regarded in this light although he has produced 
many works which would have brought him fame if 
the immense popularity of Cavalleria Rusticana had not 
overshadowed all of his other works. There are prob- 
ably not more than a score or so of compositions by 
composers of renown that have the longevity which 
comes with wide human appeal. It is difficult to deter- 
mine why the public fastens its affections upon Rubin- 
stein’s Melody in F, Mendelssohn’s Spring Song, Han- 
del’s Largo and other works. Simplicity is not the only 
reason for popularity as the Wagner Tannhauser 
March is by no means simple and many of Mendels- 
sohn’s Songs Without Words are much simpler than 
the Spring Song. Probably the secret is the eternal 
youthfulness of a good melody. 

The composers in this group, are (with the exception 
of Wolf, Goldmark, and Franz), men who have been 
distinguished by a comparatively small group of com- 
positions, often in brilliant or lighter forms, but who 
have evidenced in many instances great gifts in writing 
in larger forms. Moszkowski for instance while known 
by many of his lighter compositions has done work in 
larger forms which would entitle him the laurels of the 
master if his very beautiful lighter pieces had never 
existed. The concertos of Schiitt are pianistic master- 
pieces of the highest order, but he is best known by 
his lighter compositions. 


Joacuim Rarr. 


Moritz Moszkowski 


Moritz Moszkowski was born at Breslau, German 
Poland, August, 1854. He was the son of a Polish 
gentleman and was given the best possible musical 
training at the conservatories of Dresden and at the 
Stern and the Kullak Conservatories in Berlin. He 
taught in the Stern Conservatory for many years. In 
1873 he made his debut as a pianist and thereafter 
made many successful tours. Gradually, however, his 
attention was turned to composition and to teaching. 
In 1897 he removed to Paris and since that time has 
been closely identified with the musical life of the 
French capital. 


No composer of meritorious pianoforte music of the last 
quarter of a century has met with greater favor than Mosz- 
kowski. As in the ease of Chopin, he speaks the idiom 
of the instrument so fluently that it is a delight to play 
his compositions. His Spanish Dances, Serenata and his 
famous Valses de Concert, notably those in A flat, in E 
major and his recent concert-waltz success in G flat major, 
Grande Valse de Concert. 

Pianists are exceptionally enthusiastic over the Mosz- 
kowski pianoforte concerto—many declaring it one of the 
most effective of all compositions in this form. 

Moszkowski has written one opera, Boabdil, and some 
works for orchestra. 


Eduard Schutt 


WHILE most people think of Schtitt as a German or 
Austrian composer he is really a Russian. He was 
born at Petrograd, October 22, 1856. He studied at the 
St. Petersburg Conservatory and at the Leipsic Con- 
servatory. Eventually he settled in Vienna as a teacher 
and conductor. 

As the director of the Academic Wagner Associa- 
tion he achieved much renown. He made many tours 
as a concert pianist introducing his beautiful Concertos 
in G minor and in F minor. Although he has written a 
comic opera and many interesting pieces of chamber 
music he is best known for his very fascinating and 
graceful pianoforte compositions such as the Carnival 
Mignon, and his very popular waltzes, A La Bien Aimé 
and A la Jeunesse. 


Joachim Raff 


RAFF’s career was one of the most romantic and at 
times one of the most pathetic in musical history. He 
was born May 27, 1822, at Lachen, Switzerland. He 
was educated at a Jesuit Lyceum and received first 
prizes in Latin and Mathematics. Immensely fond of 
music, he was unable to afford a teacher. He became 
a school teacher and studied music with the greatest 
of teachers, “oneself.” Mendelssohn became interested 
in him and induced a publisher to issue some of his 
compositions. From that time to his death he wrote 
incessantly, often producing works which were so trivial 
that their value was purely ephemeral. Liszt, Von 
Bulow and others who saw in Raff a great genius 
drifting in any direction the winds might blow induced 
him to devote himself to further and more regular 
study. Meanwhile he was so miserably poor that he 
was often close to starvation and ready to turn out 
any kind of cheap pot boiler to keep himself alive. 

Liszt, whose good heart and breadth of sympathy 
made him a good friend to many musicians in need, 
induced Raff to take up his home in Weimar, where 
Raff’s opera, King Alfred, was produced many times 
with great success, but with little profit to Raff. In 
1856, however, he went to Wiesbaden, where his for- 
tunes turned as he had many piano pupils. Iu 1859 he 
married the daughter of a famous actor. Encour- 
aged by prosperity he wrote many highly interesting 
works for the orchestra including the symphonies, Jn 
the Woods, Leonore, The Alpine, Spring Sounds, In 
Summertime, and In Autumn Time. In all, Raff wrote 
eleven Symphonies. None of these rank with the great 
symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms or 
Tchaikowsky, but they are exceedingly good and inter- 
esting music with occasional moments of lofty inspira- 
tion. His technical skill was often quite amazing as is 
shown in some of the first movements of his sym- 


79 


phonies. He is at his best, however, in the slow move- 
ments which are often (like his famous Cavatina) 
exceedingly impassioned and filled with emotional 
charm, 

As a composer for pianoforte Raff produced so 
many compositions that it is surprising that so very few 
remain. His pianoforte Concerto was once very popu- 
lar, but is rarely heard at this time. La Filewse and the 
Polka de la Reine, however, are probably his best 
known works for piano, His songs are rarely heard 
although he wrote many and his violin compositions 
with the exception of an occasional performance of the 
Suite for Violin and Orchestra and the immortal 
Cavatina are practically unknown. Possibly one should 
add La Feé d’Amour, a violin piece, which was a fav- 
orite in Sarasate’s programs. 

In 1877, Raff was appointed director of the very fine 
Hoch Conservatorium in Frankfort-am-Main, an 
endowed institution, which has done much for music. 
There among his many noted pupils he had Edward 
MacDowell in whom he took a great personal interest. 
Raff died on June 25, 1882. His life is a singular monu- 
ment to his ability in many directions, to his great 
industry, and, yet to the colossal amount of effort 
wasted in pursuing inconsequential musical aims. 


Carl Goldmark 


Ir GotpMark had written nothing but his Concert 
Overture Sakuntala he would have earned a permanent 
position in musical history. Few overtures are as large 
in their design and as rich in their coloring, Goldmark 
was born at Keszthely, Hungary, May 18, 1832. Out- 
side of a few violin lessons, received when a boy, and 


-one year at the Vienna Conservatory, he was self-taught. 


When he was twenty-six years of age he gave a public 
concert in Vienna, playing his own concerto for piano- 
forte. His opera, The Queen of Sheba, is a splendid 
musical spectacle. It was first produced in 1875, and is 
frequently revived. His operas are Merlin (1886), Das 
Heimschen am Herd (Dickens’ “Cricket on the 
Hearth”) (1896), and the War Prisoners (1889). Gold- 
mark’s two symphonies and his other overtures, while 
full of spirit and fiery Hungarian dash in parts, have not 
met with the popularity which continually attends his 
Sakuntala Overture. Goldmark died in 1915, 


CarL GOLDMARK. 


Theodore Leschetizky 


LescHETIZKY ranks with Czerny, Cramer and Liszt 
among the most distinguished of all pianoforte teach- 
ers. He was born June 22, 1830, at Lancut, in Aus- 
trian Poland. He was a pupil of Czerny and Sechter, 
and achieved local fame as a pianist when he was 
fifteen. From 1852 to 1878 he taught in the St. Peters- 
burg Conservatory. In 1882 he married Mme. An- 
nette Essipoff, and was divorced twelve years later 
since which time he had three other wives. His chief 
fame rests upon his exceptional success with his famous 
pupils Siloti, Paderewski, Hambourg, Bloomfield-Zeis- 
ler, Goodson’and many others. 

Leschetizky made many appearances as a pianist when 
a young man, but when he adopted teaching as a career he 
confined himself almost exclusively to.that, rarely giving 
publie recitals. He was a composer of many brilliant and 
effective pianoforte pieces bordering upon the salon type. 
He also wrote an opera, Die Erste Falte, which was pro- 
duced in Prague, in 1867, with great success. 

Leschetizky died in Dresden, November 17, 1915. 


Robert Franz 


FRANz’s real name was Knauth—and in his time he 
was not without enemies who contended that in taking 
the name of Robert Franz he was stealing the fame of 
Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. However, 
since Franz himself produced vocal masterpieces which 
the critics of to-day are glad to rank with the great 
compositions of his forerunners in Art-song composi- 
tion, we may excuse him of all blame for fixing up his 
name as he chose (the family name was changed by 
Royal permission in 1847). 

Franz was born at Halle (Handel’s birthplace), Oc- 
tober 24, 1815. As in the case of Schumann, Franz’s 
parents tried every possible means for inducing the 
youth to abandon all idea of becoming a musician. 
However, he was permitted to study under Schneider 
at Dessau, and wrote many compositions. Upon his 
return to Halle he spent much time trying to dispose 
of his works, but with no avail. They might be mas- 
terpieces, but the publishers could not see them in that 
way. Therefore, he gave much time to the study of 
the masters, notably Bach. He was twenty-eight years 
of age when his first set of songs appeared. Men- 
delssohn, Liszt, Schumann, Wagner and others became 
his firm admirers. This led to his appointment as 
director of the Singakademie, organist of the U]richs- 
kirche and musical director of the Halle University, 
which later conferred the degree of Doctor of Music 
upon him. When he was fifty-three, however, deaf- 


ness and nervous troubles afflicted to such an ex- 
tent that he was forced to give up all his positions, and 
he and his wife (neé Marie Hinrichs, a singer of much 


ability) were practically penniless. A group of friends 


EpuARD SCHUETT. 


XAVER SCHARWENKA. 


in Germany and a group of American musicians se- 
cured a fund to support him during his lifetime. Otto 
Dresel, B. J. Lang and others gave concerts in Amer- 
ica which netted $25,000. 

Franz died October 24, 1892. 


Xaver Scharwenka 


XAVER SCHARWENKA was born at Samter, the Polish 
province of Prussia, January 6, 1850. He received an 
excellent general education at the Posen Gymnasium. 
Later he became a pupil of Kullak and Wuerst at the 
Kullak Conservatory in Berlin. His debut as a pianist 
was made in 1869 at the Singakadamie. His many 
tours as a pianist brought him wide renown as a 
virtuoso. In 1881 he founded a conservatory and later, 
together with his brother, he engaged in the work of 
the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin. 
In 1891 he cstablished a conservatory in New York 
which continued for some years. In 1914, he opened a 
school for piano teachers in Berlin. Scharwenka’s 
name in the minds of the public is still associated with 
the Polish Dance in E flat minor. He wrote many Pol- 
ish dances, but none ever proved as popular as his fam- 
ous one. He has also written many compositions for 
orchestra including a Symphony in C minor. His opera, 
Mataswintha, has been produced in Berlin (1894) and 
at the Metropolitan in New York (1897). His older 
brother, Philipp Scharwenka, and his nephew are also 
distinguished as composers. Scharwenka’s four piano- 
forte concertos have been played by most of the dis- 
tinguished piano virtuosos of his time. 


Adolf Jensen 


Jensen, like Raff, was largely self-taught. He was 
born at Konigsberg, January 12, 1837, and died at Baden 
Baden, January 23, 1879. Through the friendship of 
L. Ehlert and Fr. Marpurg he was encouraged to write 
many works in his youth that proved an excellent drill 
for him. Jensen was a Schumann enthusiast and ex- 
pected to study with him if Schumann’s health would 
permit. Accordingly, he set out for Dusseldorf in 
1856, but Schumann died at the end of July of that 
year, and Jensen was terribly disappointed. In 1857 
he became the Kapellmeister at the City theater of 
Posen, and in 1858 he went to Copenhagen, where 
Gade became his friend and gave him much assistance. 
Later we find him in Berlin (1866-1868) teaching ad- 
vanced pupils in the conservatory of Tausig. He con- 
tracted consumption, and after many futile resorts 
for his health he removed to Baden Baden, where he 
died. 

Jensen’s muse was more lyric than dramatic. He 
excels in the smaller forms and for this reason many 


80 


of his songs and some of his piano pieces have been 
very widely employed. Nevertheless, he wrote an 
amount in larger forms. An opera which he left 
uncompleted (Turandot) was finished by W. Kienzel. 


Hugo Wolf 


Nor since the deaths of Schubert, Schumann and 
Lowe has any writer of songs attracted so much de- 
served attention as has Hugo Wolf. He had the true 
lyric soul and lived his life right into his songs. 

Hugo Wolf was born at Windischgratz, Austria, 
March 13, 1860. His father was in the leather business 
and greatly disapproved of his son’s intention to be- 
come a musician. Nevertheless the son entered the 
Vienna Conservatorium when he was fifteen years old. 
Naturally an iconoclast, he was expelled from the con- 
ventional old institution after two years, because he 
refused to obey the rules, and neglected to give the 
proper amount of time to counterpoint. For a time he 
was brought very nearly to the point of starvation 
through his inability to get enough piano and violin 
pupils to give him a living. Friends secured him the 
post of Second Capellmeister at Salzburg. In 1882 he 
became a critic in Vienna. 

In 1888 he commenced his serious work as a song 
composer. He wrote two hundred masterly songs, one 
right after the other, with hardly a break. Thereafter 
all his writing was spasmodic. That is, he would lie 
fallow for a considerable time, and then in a sudden 
burst of inspiration he would turn out some very re- 
markable work. In 1896 he produced his opera Der 
Corregidor. The work was successful, but was given 
but once during the lifetime of the composer. In 1897, 
when he was engaged in writing another opera— 
Manuel Venagas—he was stricken “with insanity and 
confined to an asylum. Though he had occasional 
periods when it seemed as though his mind would be 
restored to him, they were of but short duration. 
In 1903 he died in the asylum. 

Wolf's orchestral works, such as his Symphonie poem 
Penthesilea, are rarely heard; but his art songs are becoming 


more and more popular and they are frequently on the pro- 
grams of the foremost singers. 


TEN TEST QUESTIONS. 


1. Name three of the most popular pieces of Mosz- 
kowski. ; 

2. Name a famous Viennese composer of Russian birth? 

8. Which noted composer of Swiss birth was almost en- 
tirely self-taught? 

4. Give the name of one of MacDowell’s best known 
teachers, 

5. Name two important works by Goldmark. 

6. What notable work did Franz accomplish apart from 
his songs? 

7. How was Franz spared from penury? 

8. Give some details of the life of X. Scharwenka. 

9. In what way did Jensen resemble Raff? 

10. How old was Wolf when he commenced his real work 
as a song composer? 


Moritz MoszKowskI, 


Ne 


A Group of Russian Composers 


In this group of Russian composers we meet those 
masters whose works have embodied the various phases 
of Russian and Slavic genius. In many instances we 
find that they have accomplished an almost miraculous 
amount of work in face of the fact that much of it 
was done in their “spare time,’ while they were busily 
engaged in other occupations. Many were almost 
entirely self-taught, and several did not even com- 
mence their musical activities in earnest until they had 
reached manhood. 


The spelling of Russian names (owing to the Russian lan- 
guage using a different alphabet), to say nothing of their 
pronunciation, has led to infinite confusion, The following 
spelling is given by an eminent Russian authority in the 
Musical Times (London). These spellings are frequently 
seen in modern discussions of Russian compositions. In our 
text, however, we have used the spellings adopted by the 
Grove Dictionary. 

Balikirey (bii-li-ke-reff) . 
Borodin (bo-ro-din’). 

Cui (koo’-ee). 

Dargomyzhsky (dir-go-mish’-ski). 
Glinka (Glink’-a). 

Glazuno6y (glaz’-6-noff). 
Leschetizsky (les-che-titz-ki) . 
Moszkéwski (mos-kof’-ski). 
Musorgsky (m6-sorg’-ski). 
Rakhmaninov (rik-miin’-e-nof). 
Rimsky-K6érsokov (rim’-ski-kor-sa-koff). 
Stravinsky (straf-in-’ski). 
Skryébin (skryd’bin). 

Tanéev (tan-é-yef). 

Techaik6vski (chi-kof’-ski). 


Michael Ivanovitch Glinka 


Glinka’s chief distinction lies in the fact that he 
was the first of the great national composers of Russia. 
He was born June 1, 1804, twenty-six years before 
Anton Rubinstein. Rubinstein found almost immediate 
favor for his compositions as he wrote almost entirely 
in a German style, so that he could almost be classed 
as a German composer. Glinka, on the contrary, saw 
the rich treasures of Russian folk-music, and endeav- 
ored to bring the spirit of Russia into his work. 

Glinka was a nobleman by birth, and a highly cul- 
tured gentleman. After some preliminary studies he 
came under the educational direction of the Irish 
pianist-composer, John Field, in Moscow. Field took 
a great interest in his pupil, and Glinka became an 
accomplished pianist. At the age of thirty he went 
to Italy, where he remained four years. Then he went 


Boropin. 


PorPHYRIEVICH 


ALEXANDER 


to Berlin, where he studied under Dehn and resolved 
to become a composer. 


His first opera, A Life for the Czar, was produced at St. 
Petersburg, December 9, 1836, and until the Revolution was 
one of the favorite operas of the Russian people. Russlan 
and Ludmilla, an opera for which the Russian poet Pushkin 
(part negro) wrote the book, also became a favorite after 
its production in 1842. He made additional trips to Paris, 
Spain, Italy and Berlin, where he died in 1857. 

In addition to his operas he partly completed two sym- 
phonies and wrote other works for the orchestra, some 
songs, some chamber music and some pieces for piano. 
While Glinka did not reach the heights attained by later 
Russian composers, as a pioneer he deserves immense praise. 


Alexander Sergeivitch Dargomijsky 


Dargomijsky is another notable Russian example 
of the self-taught musician. He was born in the proy- 
ince of Toula, Feb. 14, 1813, and died at St. Peters- 
burg Jan. 29, 1869. Of excellent family, he was edu- 
cated for the government service, and did not begin to 
devote himself seriously to musical composition until 
he was twenty-two years of age, when he withdrew 
from the Control Department. In his childhood he 
had many musical surroundings, which developed his 
taste, but it was not until he was twenty that he met 
Glinka, who advised him to take up music as a pro- 
fession. Glinka loaned him the harmony exercise 
books he had had when he (Glinka) studied under Dehn 
in Berlin. This was the only theoretical education 
that Dargomijsky ever had. In 1839 he produced his 
opera Esmeralda on a plot by Victor Hugo. In 1856 
his opera Roussalka was first given. Notwithstanding 
the popular success of these works he went on a 
lengthy tour of Germany, France, England and Bel- 
gium, to extend his musical vision. Only in Belgium 
did his musical work receive great popular favor. 

Upon his return to Russia, he met the inspiring Balakirev, 
who set the composer’s mind toward the new ideals of the 
rising Russian School, with the result that Dargomijsky’s 
later works represent a notable advance. 

The most significant of his productions was The Stone 
Guest (orchestrated later by Rimsky-Kérsakov). The opera 
is distinguished by continuous recitative, and marks so radi- 
cal a departure from the conventional that many of the 
Russian composers came to call it “The Gospel.” Apart 


from bis operas (five in number) Dargomijsky wrote three 
works for orchestra, a few vocal works and a duet for piano. 


Alexander Porphyrievich Borodin 


Borodin was a son of a prince of Imeretia and was 
born in St. Petersburg Noy. 12, 1834. He was trained 
to become a physician, and for two years served in 
a military hospital. Later he became professor of 
chemistry at the Academy of Medicine in St. Peters- 
burg. In 1862 he met Balakirev, and became a ready 
disciple of that master. Although he still kept up his 
interest in medical matters and wrote many treatises 
upon the subject he also achieved great things in music. 
In 1877 he visited Liszt at Weimar and later visited 
Brussels, Belgium, where his compositions met with 
decided favor. He died Feb. 28, 1887, as a result of 
overwork. 


Borodin’s life indicates how a man at the age of 28, with 
little more than an amateur’s grasp of music, can find time 
in the midst of a very busy life to pursue an art and turn 
out real masterpieces. His greatest work is, in all prob- 
ability, Prince Igor, an opera in four acts and a prologue, 
which was not produced until after Borodin’s death. He 
also wrote two symphonies and part of a third, some ex- 
ceptional stirring quartets, and many songs and pianoforte 
pieces, 


Cesar Antonovitch Cui 


Although well known as a military engineer of high 
rank, Cui has constantly followed his fondness for 
music and ranks among the most gifted of the Rus- 
sians. He was born at Vilna, Poland, Jan. 18, 1835. 
His father was French. As a boy Cui received instruc- 
tion from the noted Polish composer Moniuszko. Dur- 
ing his military studies he was forced to give up his 
music, but when he graduated, at the age of twenty- 
two, he met Balakirev, who incited him to take up his 
musical work again. Thereafter he was almost en- 
tirely self-taught. It seems inconceivable how a man 
who was a Lieutenant General in the Russian Army, 
a Professor of Fortifications in a military school (Czar 
Nicholas II was one of his pupils) could find time to 
turn out so much musical work of high character, 
melodic charm and exceptional finish. 


In addition to his many songs, choral works, chamber 
music pieces and much charming pianoforte music, he wrote 
many unusually fine things for the orchestra and produced 


81 


eight operas, the best known of which was on the English 
subject, William Ratcliffe. Cui died March 15, 1918. 


Mily Alexeivich Balakirev 


Balakirev is one of the most notable examples of the 
self-taught musician, having received even less assist- 
ance than Wagner, Elgar and other masters who have 
depended upon themselves for their musical training 
in large measure. He was born at Nijny Novgorod, 
Dec. 31, 1836. His mother taught him the rudiments 
of music, and a friend in whose house he lived gave 
him free access to a large musical library and per- 
mitted him to play in a private orchestra. At eighteen 
he removed to St. Petersburg, where he gained the in- 
terest and protection of Glinka. Glinka at once real- 
ized that he had found a disciple and a successor, and 
Balakirev in turn made an immense impression upon 
such composers as Cui, Borodin, Rimsky, Korsakoy and 
Moussorgsky, doing much to help them preserve the 
Russian spirit in their music. He first, however, in- 
sisted that his pupils become familiar with the great 
musical art products of the masters of other European 
countries. 

While Balakirev’s works are not numerous, they are ex- 
ceptional in character and force. Of his seven works for 
orchestra, his overture, King Lear, and his symphony are 
probably the best known. He issued several collections of 
songs of a national type. He produced a number of com- 
positions for piancforte, including the Oriental Fantasy, 


Islamey, considered by some pianists as the most difficult 
composition for the instrument. 


Modeste Petrovich Moussorgsky 


The music of Moussorgsky carries with it such a 
radically new and different atmosphere that many have 
been led into the mistake of ‘believing that he was un- 
schooled in the works of preceding masters. This was 
not in any sense the case. Born in Kareyo, Russia, 
March 16, 1835 (two years after the birth of Brahms) 
he remained an amateur until he was twenty-two, when 
he met Alexander Sergeivitch Dargomijsky who had 
likewise started his musical career as an amateur, only 
to become later the bridge between Glinka and the new 
cult of Russian music which is so strongly impregnated 
with the folk spirit of Russia. It was Dargomijsky 
who inspired Moussorgsky to take up music as a Career, 
but Moussorgsky had already received a fine prelimi- 
nary training, as he was able to play many of Liszt’s 
compositions as well as a Concerto by Field when he 


Mopeste Petrovich MoussorGsky. 


NicuHoras ANDREIEVICH RiMsky-KOrRSAKOV. 


was only nine years of age. He became an enthu- 
siastic student of Schumann and Beethoven, as well as 
of Russian composers. 


Many of the foremost Russian composers at that time 
realized the futility of earning a living at music alone, and 
for this reason we find men like Borodin, Cui and Rimsky- 
Ko6rsakov, retaining their military, professional or govern- 
mental positions and making music an avocation. Mous- 
sorgsky resolved not to do this, and accepted a life of 
poverty and struggle, until he was compelled to take a 
small governmental position to help keep body and soul to- 
gether. His life was very irregular, and as time went on 
he seemed to abandon all ideas of dogmatic forms, attempt- 
ing to align his musie with nature. Through privations and 
overwork and a naturally sensitive disposition, he became 
addicted to drugs, and died on his forty-second birthday in 
St. Petersburg (March 16, 1881). 

Moussorgskv, like Wagner, brought great ideas and great 
reforms to the art. He leavened the whole field of Russian 
music, and inspired many of the most daring modern French 
composers. He thought for himself, and his employment of 
the instruments of the orchestra is so original and so 
effective that it has been widely imitated. He was especially 
fond of the use of bells, suggesting those of the great Rus- 
sian Cathedrals. His ignorance of some phases of orches- 
tration are said to have contributed to his originality. He 
had to find his effects for himself. He never had anything 
like the thorough musical schooling of Rimsky-Kérsakov, 
and was hampered by this in producing his works. Who 
can say, however, that this was not a reason for some of his 
originality? His best-known work is his national opera, 
Boris Godounor, first produced at St. Petersburg in 1874, 
and given in recent years with a gorgeous production by 
the Metropolitan Opera Company of New York. His other 
operas, The Matchmaker (one act only) and Khovanstchina, 
are less known. In addition to these, Moussorgsky wrote 
three works for chorus and orchestra, several songs of very 
“modern” type, four orchestral pieces and a small group of 
pianoforte pieces. 


Nicholas Andreievich Rimsky-Korsakov 


Although Rimsky-Korsakov was nine years younger 
than Moussorgsky (he was born March 18, 1844), his 
well developed technic in his art enabled him to write 
with so much more facility that his works became 
known and popular long before those of his less fortu- 
nate confrere. He was born in Tikhyin of well-to-do 
parents. His musical instruction commenced at six and 
at nine we find him making attempts at composition. 
His aristocratic parents were determined that he should 
enter the Navy and accordingly he graduated from the 
Naval College at the age of eighteen. Meanwhile he 
managed to keep up his work in music, receiving much 
inspiration from Balakirev. During a cruise lasting 
three years he finished his first Symphony. This was 
given in 1865 in St. Petersburg. Although he did not 
retire from the Navy until 1873, he devoted more and 
more of his time to musical composition and to teaching. 
(He was Professor of Composition and Instrumentation 
in the St. Petersburg Conservatory.) Among his many 
highly successful pupils were Glazounov, Ippolitov, 
Ivanov, Laidov and others. 

Rimsky-K6rsakoy was generally recognized as one of the 
greatest of Russian orchestral conductors. He was an in- 
defatigable student of orchestral effects, with the result 
that his mastery of this phase of musical work is considered 
by many greater than that of any other Russian composer. 
His unselfish and conscientious spirit induced him to re- 
orchestrate large portions of the works of Dargomijsky (The 


Stone Guest) Borodin, (Prince Igor) and Moussorgsky 
(Khoyantshina and Boris Godounov). 


Rimsky-K6érsakoy wrote fourteen works for the stage, the 
best known of which is The Snow Maiden. Of his fifteen 
works for the orchestra, his best known is the brilliant 
symphonic suite from the Arabian Nights, Scheherezade, 
In addition to these he produced many fine works in the 
line of Chamber Music, Pianoforte, Chorus and the Voice. 

Rimsky-Korsakoy died at St. Petersburg, June 21, 1908. 


Sergius Ivanovich Taneiev 


Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirey, Glinka and other Rus- 
sian masters deserve high praise not merely for their 
accomplishments as composers, but for the guidance 
they have given to others. Taneiev was a notable 
example of this. Not only through his instruction, 
but through his ideas and through his compositions he 
was a great leaven in the Russia of his day. 

Taneiey was born at Vladimir (province), November 13, 
1856. He was the son of a government official and attended 
the Moscow Conservatory, studying with Nicholas Rubin- 
stein and Tschaikowsky. In 1875 he gained the first gold 
medal ever offered by the Moscow Conservatory. After con- 
cert tours as a pianist, he succeeded Tschaikowsky as the 
professor of composition at Moscow, and later succeeded 
Nicholas Rubinstein and Klindworth as the professor of 
pianoforte. For four years (1885-1889) Taneiev was di- 
rector of the Conservatory, until succeeded by Safonoff, 

Taneiev’s works include four symphonies—one of which 
was never completed—five string quartets, an _ operatic 
trilogy in eight scenes, entitled Orestes, and. various 
choruses. Like his great friend and teacher, Tschaikowsky, 
he wrote a work on musical theory. 

Taneiey died June 6, 1915, near Moscow. 


Alexander Constantinovich Glazounov 


Glazounoy, like Schumann, was the son of a pub- 
lisher and bookseller. He was born at St. Petersburg, 
August 10, 1865. His musical studies began at the 
age of nine and shortly thereafter he commenced 
musical composition. When he was fourteen years of 
age he had the good fortune to meet Balakirev, who 
wisely advised him to go on with his general educa- 
tion before devoting himself exclusively to musical 
composition. Thereafter he studied with Rimsky- 
Kérsakov and in one year and a half completed his 
course in musical composition. At the age of sixteen 
he produced his first symphony. To indicate to the 
readers the thoroughness of Glazounov’s methods, it is 
only necessary to state that he re-orchestrated this 
work five times before he permitted it to be pub- 
lished (Opus 5). 


Liszt became interested in the work of the young Russian, 
and succeeded in introducing his works in other European 
countries. In 1889 he appeared as a conductor at the Paris 
Exposition, and in 1900 he was appointed professor of _in- 
strumentation and score-reading at the St. Petersburg Con- 
servatorium. In 1907 the University of Cambridge con- 
ferred the degree of Doctor of Music upon him. 

The career of Glazounoy differs from that of most of the 
other modern Russian composers in several ways. While he 
was a strong admirer of Balakirev, his own works are for 
the most part far more conservative and academic. He was 
a believer in Brahms, and was greatly influenced by the Ger- 
man master. Moreover, his compositions are far more volu- 
minous than those of other Russian masters, with the ex- 
ception of Rubinstein and Tschaikowsky. Although he has 
written interesting ballet music, he has not shown the fond- 
ness for opera which bas characterized the work of other 
Russian composers. His opus-numbers include seven sym- 
phonies, many of which have been received with immense 
favor in all parts of the musical world. 


Alexander Nicolaevitch Scriabine 


Scriabine (pronounced (Skrya’been, as though in two 
syllables, and not in the Italian fashion) is probably 
the Russian prototype of extreme modernism, as were 
Debussy, Ravel and Satie in France and Schoenberg 
in Germany, unless Stravinsky can claim that honor 
for his fatherland. 

Scriabine was born at Moscow, January 10, 1872, and 
died from blood-poisoning, April 27, 1915. He was a 
pupil, of Safonoff and Taneiev at the Moscow Conser- 
vatory. A gifted pianist, he made many tours, playing 
his own compositions. He visited the United States in 
1907. Attention was first drawn to his works through 
his many earlier and very delightful pianoforte com- 
positions, conceived in the spirit of Chopin, but not 
imitating that master. On the other hand, his first two 
symphonies suggest the workmanship of Wagner. In 
later years, however, when Scriabine became an ex- 
tremist, his third, fourth and fifth symphonies mark 
astonishing developments in originality. In his last 
symphony, Prometheus, he introduces what he termed 
his chord of mystery, a chord founded upon a system 
of fourths rather than thirds as our present harmonic 
system is founded. Naturally the discords were very 
startling. 

‘The composer's views were, it is said, theosophical, and 
with this symphony (also known as the Poem of Fire) he 
introduced the idea of a keyboard of color, or tastiera per 
luce, so that with future performance of this work rays of 
light could be sent forth over the audience, or on a screen, 
to accompany certain motives in the symphony. Scriabine 
is said to have possessed a wonderful sense of color-percep- 
tion as related to sound—a sense which Richard Wagner 
was also said to have possessed. For many years the theory 
of the relationship between colors and certain degrees of 
the scale has been a matter for popular discussion. 

Scriabine’s principal works are his five Symphonies (the 
one in H Major, Opus 26, has a choral finale like Beethoven's 
Ninth), a Reverie for Orchestra, Opus 24, a Pianoforte Con- 
certo in F sharp minor, Opus 20, three sonatas for piano, 
studies, impromptus, nocturnes, preludes, mazurkas, ete. 


For five years (1898-1908) Seriabine was professor of 
pianoforte at the Moscow Conservatory. 


82 


Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninov 


Rachmaninov, a cousin and pupil of the famous 
Russian Liszt-exponent Siloti, was first known as oa. 
pianist, but in more recent years the success of his 
compositions for the piano and for the orchestra has 
given him a wide reputation as a composer. Rach- 
maninoy was born at Novgorod, April 1, 1873. His 
pianoforte studies commenced at the age of nine, at 
the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Later he studied 
composition with Taneiev and Arensky at the Conser- 
vatory at Moscow. In 1892 he made his first tour as a 
pianist and since then has appeared with great success 
in most of the art-capitals of the world. 


He often appears in the réle of composer, pianist and 
conductor at the same concert. Of his compositions for the 
orchestra, the best known is the Island of Death, inspired 
by the famous painting of Arnold Bockelin. A number of 
songs and choruses, some chamber music, and particularly 
his pieces for piano, have been very favorably received. His 
famous Prelude in Ct Minor has become one of the most 
famous compositions for the instrument. 


Igor Stravinsky 


Stravinsky was born in Petrograd, June 5, 1882. 
His education was planned to make him a lawyer 
and it was not until his twenty-second year that his 
attention was turned seriously toward music, although 
he had excellent instruction in his childhood. In 1903 
he wrote a sonata for piano which aroused the interest 
of Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1908 he produced a Scherzo 
Symphonique and in 1910 his famous ballets, Oiseau 
de Feu (Bird of Fire) and Petrouchka, both works 
astonishing even sated critics by their novelty and 
daring. Removing to Paris he presented his musical 
pantomime Le Sacre du Printemps. 


His opera, The Nightingale, written in 1909, but not 
scheduled for production in Paris until 1914, is significant, 
in that the composer declares that he does not believe in 
this form. He states: “I can write music to words, that is, 
‘songs,’ or music to action, that is, ‘ballets, but the co- 
operation of music, words and action is a thing that daily 
becomes more inadmissible to our mind. Musie can be mar- 
ried to gesture or to words—not to both without bigamy.” 
Stravinsky, through his ballets, his orchestral works, his 
songs, is one of the most interesting of the present- 
day composers. His orchestrations are especially effective, 
now ethereal, now blatant, but always well conceived and 
executed. 


Ten Test Questions 


1. Name at least four Russian masters who were first 
trained for professions other than music. 5 , 

2. Name two Russian masters who were practically self- 
taught. ‘ 

3. Who was the first great Russian national composer? 

4. Tell something of the composer of ‘The Stone Guest.” 

5. Which Russian master was also a celebrated professor 
of medicine? 

6. Which Russian master was a distinguished military 
engineer ? 

7. Tell something of the influence of Balakirey. 

S. Why is the music of Moussorgsky distinctive? ' 

9. Who was probably the greatest Russian master of in- 
strumentation ? 

10. Tell something about Scriabine’s musical art theories, 


ALEXANDER NICOLAEVITCH SCRIABINE. 


= - rf i 
A Ie : 
? ig ‘ 
; ve 4 
~~ ae ~ t 
...= 
] - 7? 
iT 
‘ 
"u ‘3 
; 
. 
~ 
faa 
. - 
: 
~ 
, 
; 
iS 


Tee 
haar 3 —- 
a ie ye 


: j mh 
ah eck ae 
pi mi 


i 


x, 


fees 


fey 
ce 


< ; ia eee pa ' ee 


ard 
t 
08 


hlet 
er 
21, 19 


nd 


Gaylord Br 
N 


Pamp 
=} 
AT. JA 


P. 


Pressbo 


WA 


